Signing & Safekeeping

You Signed Your Will. Now What? Executing and Storing It Correctly

Most people think the hard part of making a will is deciding who gets what. It isn’t. The hard part is making sure that you follow all the steps needed to ensure the will is valid once the will is drafted.

A perfectly drafted will that isn’t signed correctly is not a will. A perfectly signed will that nobody can find is functionally not a will either. Both failures land your estate in the same place: intestacy, where state law decides what happens to your property regardless of what you wanted.

This guide covers both halves of that final step.

Part One: Executing Your Will

Once you create a will, you must execute it properly. “Execution” is the legal term for signing a will in a way that makes it valid. Every state has its own rules, but nearly all of them are built from the same elements.

1. Testamentary capacity

Most states require you to have the mental capacity to form a will and be at least 18 years old. In practice, this means you should understand that you’re making a will, you know what property you own, and you know how you are distributing your property through your will. The bar is fairly easy to pass, but be warned — testamentary capacity is one of the most common grounds to contest a will, particularly when the will is signed during illness or late in life.

If there is any reason someone might later question your capacity, that’s a signal to involve an attorney rather than self-execute.

2. Your signature

Once you are ready to sign your will, you should print it out and physically sign it. While some states allow you to digitally sign an electronic will, this practice is not universally accepted. Therefore, to be on the safe side, you should sign a physical copy of your will.

Your signature should be at the end of the document and be in blue or black ink. Sign in front of your witnesses, which we cover in more detail below. Do not sign your will before your witnesses arrive.

3. Witnesses

Most states require you to sign your will in the presence of witnesses. The requirements are particular in nature, and this is where most DIY wills fail.

How many. Almost all states require you to execute your will in the presence of at least two witnesses. Pennsylvania does not legally require witnesses at the time of signing, but in practice you may encounter questions about validity down the road if you choose not to include witnesses. Louisiana also requires you to have a notary present in addition to your two witnesses. Therefore, it is best practice to have at least two witnesses at signing.

Who they can be. Witnesses must be legally competent adults. Importantly, your witnesses should not be people who inherit or financially benefit under the will. Using an “interested witness” — a witness who stands to gain something from your will — can, depending on the state, void that person’s gift entirely, void the will, or trigger a presumption that the gift resulted from undue influence. Some states have softened this rule while others remain strict. There is no upside to testing it.

Use neighbors, coworkers, or friends who aren’t named in the document. Not your spouse, not your children, not the friend you left the boat to.

What they’re attesting to. Your witnesses are not vouching for the contents of your will. They don’t need to read it and shouldn’t be asked to. They are attesting that they saw you sign, that you appeared to be of sound mind, and that you weren’t under duress when signing.

Presence. Traditionally, everyone had to be in the same room to watch you sign your will. Thanks to technology, some states now recognize “electronic presence” via live audiovisual connection under specific conditions. Many states still don’t allow this. If you have any doubt, get everyone physically in one room — that satisfies every state’s rule.

4. Notarization and the self-proving affidavit

Unless you live in Louisiana or own property there, notarizing a will is not typically required to make your will valid. However, there are important practical reasons why you should notarize your will anyways.

As part of the probate process, the court will want to track down your witnesses to testify that your will was properly signed and executed in their presence. This is a huge inconvenience: your witnesses may lose touch with you, move away, die, or simply not remember much about an event that may have happened years ago. As a result, this part of the probate process can be slow and expensive.

To avoid this issue, most states except Maryland, Ohio, Vermont, and the District of Columbia allow you to create a “self-proving will” by attaching a notarized self-proving affidavit. This self-proving affidavit is a separate sworn statement signed by you and your witnesses in front of a notary confirming the will is properly executed. The court can validate your will without the hassle of tracking down your witnesses as long as there is a notarized self-proving affidavit. As a result, notarization is almost always worth doing even when it is not required.

Common execution mistakes

• Signing before the witnesses arrive
• Using a beneficiary as a witness
• Signing photocopies instead of the original
• Leaving blanks unfilled, or making handwritten edits after signing — write a new will or a proper codicil instead
• Stapling, unstapling, re-stapling, or anything suggesting pages were swapped
• Signing the will but skipping the self-proving affidavit
• Not dating the document

A note on handwritten wills

Some states recognize handwritten (“holographic”) wills without witnesses. Even assuming the handwritten will is properly created and executed, handwritten wills are contested more often due to the lack of witnesses and are heavily scrutinized by courts. You should only rely on handwritten wills as an emergency measure if you have no other opportunity or way to create a will.

Part Two: Storing Your Will

Assuming you properly executed your will, you will now need to worry about whether the right person can access the will at the moment it is needed.

Why the original matters

Most probate courts require the original signed will, not a copy. In many states, if the original cannot be found, the law presumes you destroyed it intentionally and revoked it. Overcoming that presumption is possible, but difficult and expensive.

Store your original signed will safely because in practical terms it is irreplaceable.

Where to store it

At home in a fireproof, waterproof safe. Accessible, free, and perfectly fine — provided the safe is genuinely rated for fire and water, and provided your executor knows it exists and can open it. A locked box whose combination died with you is not storage. Give your executor the combination, or make sure it is written somewhere they will find it.

With your attorney. If an attorney drafted your will, many will store the original. Reliable, but confirm what happens if the firm dissolves or the attorney retires, and make sure your executor knows the firm.

With the probate court. This is underused. Many states let you deposit your will with the local probate or surrogate’s court for a modest fee. It’s secure, and the court already has it when the time comes. Availability and procedure vary by county — call the clerk’s office and ask.

A safe deposit box, with caution. Boxes are secure, but access after death can be complicated. Depending on the state and the bank, the box may be sealed pending a court order, which creates a circular problem: your executor needs the will to get authority, but your executor needs authority to get the will. If you use a safe deposit box, add your executor as a co-owner of the box while you are alive so they have independent access.

Where not to store it

• A regular filing cabinet or desk drawer, where fire, flood, and casual discovery are all real risks
• Anywhere only you know about
• With a beneficiary who has a stake in the outcome
• In a sealed envelope marked “open upon my death” and nowhere else

Tell people

This is the step people skip, and it’s the one that most often makes storage fail.

Your executor should know three things: that they have been named, where the original is, and how to access it. That should be a conversation and not a surprise. An executor who only learns of his or her role at your funeral will not be equipped to properly administer your estate according to your wishes.

Consider giving your executor and one other trusted person a short written note. The note should cover where your will is located, how to access it, your attorney’s contact information if applicable, and where to find related documents like your power of attorney, healthcare directive, deeds, and insurance policies.

Review it periodically

Revisit your will after any of the following:

• Marriage or divorce
• Birth or adoption of a child
• Death of a named beneficiary, executor, or guardian
• A significant change in assets
• Moving to a different state
• Every three to five years regardless

Moving states deserves emphasis. Most states will recognize and honor wills that were properly executed in another state. However, spousal share rules, community property rules, and rules regarding witnesses and self-proving affidavits may vary depending on the state. You should therefore review your will after an out-of-state move to ensure your will still conforms with applicable state rules.

One thing your will does not control

Assets with beneficiary designations — retirement accounts, life insurance, payable-on-death bank accounts, and jointly held property with survivorship rights — pass outside your will. The designation controls, and your will does not automatically override it.

This means an outdated beneficiary form quietly overrides your carefully-drafted document. When you review your will, pull up those forms too.

The Short Version

Sign your will in front of two disinterested adult witnesses, all in the same room. As an additional step, we recommend hiring a notary to provide a notarized self-proving affidavit that you and your witnesses will sign the same day. Keep the original somewhere fireproof and findable. Tell your executor exactly where it is. Review your will when your life changes.