Knowledge & Resources
Wills and estate planning
What a will does, how to write one, and what your state requires for it to count.
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Wills and estate planning
What a will does, how to write one, and what your state requires for it to count.
Ohio allows a will to be handwritten, but handwriting alone does not excuse it from being witnessed. Every Ohio will needs two witnesses.
Except for oral wills, every Ohio will must be in writing, and it may be handwritten or typewritten. It must be signed at the end by the testator, or by another person in the testator's conscious presence and at their express direction. It must then be attested and subscribed in the conscious presence of the testator by two or more competent witnesses, who either saw the testator subscribe the will or heard the testator acknowledge the signature.
Ohio Rev. Code § 2107.03
No. Section 2107.03 requires two competent witnesses attesting in the testator's conscious presence, not a notary, and notarizing an Ohio will does not substitute for them.
Ohio Rev. Code § 2107.03
Ohio has no separate holographic will. Section 2107.03 says a will may be handwritten or typewritten, but the same section requires every will other than an oral one to be attested by two competent witnesses. Writing it out by hand does not exempt it. A handwritten, unwitnessed will is not a valid Ohio will.
Ohio Rev. Code § 2107.03
Narrower than most states. A gift to someone who is one of only two witnesses to an Ohio will is void, and that witness is then competent to testify about the execution as if the gift had not been made. If the witness would have inherited under intestacy anyway, they keep so much of that share as does not exceed the gift. Use a third witness, or witnesses who inherit nothing, and the question does not arise.
Ohio Rev. Code § 2107.15
A person who is eighteen years of age or older, of sound mind and memory, and not under restraint may make a will in Ohio.
Ohio Rev. Code § 2107.02
Ohio Rev. Code § 2107.03 (Method of making will). In writing, signed at the end by the testator (or by another in the testator's conscious presence and at their express direction), attested and subscribed in the testator's conscious presence by two or more competent witnesses.
Links last checked 2026-08-24.
We could not read this statute at its official source, so the summary above is provisional. Confirm it before relying on it.
This is general information about the law, not legal advice, and it has not been reviewed by an attorney licensed in Ohio. Requirements change. Confirm the current rules for your state before you sign.
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