Estate plan requirements by state

A complete estate plan has four documents: a will, a living trust, a power of attorney, and a healthcare directive. Each state has different rules for executing them. Here’s what your state requires.

What every state requires

•Will: written, signed, and witnessed: every state requires a written will signed by the person making it. All states except Pennsylvania require at least 2 witnesses.
•Living trust: written and signed: a trust must be in writing and signed by the settlor. Most states do not require witnesses or notarization for the trust document itself, though notarization is needed to transfer real property.
•Power of attorney: signed and typically notarized: most states require notarization. Some also require witnesses. A durable POA survives your incapacity so your agent can act when you cannot.
•Healthcare directive: signed and witnessed: most states require witnesses (typically 2). Some accept notarization as an alternative. This document covers medical decisions and end-of-life care.
•Legal capacity: all four documents require you to be of sound mind. Most states require age 18+ (Georgia: 14+ for wills; Louisiana: 16+).

What varies by state

•Witness and notarization combinations: some states require both witnesses and notarization for certain documents, while others require only one or the other
•Community property rules: 9 states treat property acquired during marriage as jointly owned, which affects all four documents (AZ, CA, ID, LA, NV, NM, TX, WA, WI)
•Electronic wills: 11 states allow fully electronic will execution. Trust, POA, and healthcare directive e-signing laws vary separately.
•Remote online notarization (RON): all 50 states now allow you to get documents notarized over a live video call instead of in person. The year each state authorized RON is shown in the table below.
•Remote online witnessing (ROW): some states allow witnesses to observe your signing over a live video call instead of being physically present. A few states cover all estate planning documents, while others limit ROW to wills only (marked with *). Some states require a supervising attorney.
•Healthcare directive alternatives: some states accept notarization in place of witnesses, or allow fewer witnesses than the standard
•POA witness requirements: most states require only notarization, but some (like Arizona and Florida) require both witnesses and a notary

2W + N = 2 witnesses + notarization2W = 2 witnesses, no notarizationN = notarization, no witnesses— = no formal requirements* = wills only (ROW column)

State ↑	Will ↕	Trust ↕	POA ↕	HCDir ↕	E-Will ↕	RON ↕	ROW ↕	Community Prop ↕
Alabama	2W	—	N	2W	No	2023	No	No	Create estate plan →
Alaska	2W	—	N	2W	No	2022	No	No	Create estate plan →
Arizona	2W	—	1W + N	1W	2019	2020	2019	Yes	Create estate plan →
Arkansas	2W	—	N	2W	No	2021	No	No	Create estate plan →
California	2W	—	2W	2W	No	2024	No	Yes	Create estate plan →
Colorado	2W	—	N	2W	2022	2020	2021*	No	Create estate plan →
Connecticut	2W	—	2W + N	2W	No	2023	No	No	Create estate plan →
Delaware	2W	1W	1W + N	2W	No	2023	No	No	Create estate plan →
District of Columbia	2W	—	N	2W	2023	2023	No	No	Create estate plan →
Florida	2W	2W	2W + N	2W	2019	2019	2020	No	Create estate plan →
Georgia	2W	—	1W + N	2W	No	2022	No	No	Create estate plan →
Hawaii	2W	—	N	2W	No	2020	No	No	Create estate plan →
Idaho	2W	—	N	—	2023	2019	2023*	Yes	Create estate plan →
Illinois	2W	—	1W + N	1W	No	2021	2021*	No	Create estate plan →
Indiana	2W	—	N	2W	2018	2018	No	No	Create estate plan →
Iowa	2W	—	N	2W	No	2019	No	No	Create estate plan →
Kansas	2W	—	N	2W	No	2022	No	No	Create estate plan →
Kentucky	2W	—	N	2W	No	2019	No	No	Create estate plan →
Maine	2W	—	N	2W	No	2022	No	No	Create estate plan →
Maryland	2W	—	2W + N	2W	2021	2020	2022	No	Create estate plan →
Massachusetts	2W	—	N	2W	No	2023	No	No	Create estate plan →
Michigan	2W	—	2W	2W	No	2018	No	No	Create estate plan →
Minnesota	2W	—	N	2W	No	2018	No	No	Create estate plan →
Mississippi	2W	—	N	2W	No	2022	No	No	Create estate plan →
Missouri	2W	—	N	2W + N	No	2020	2025*	No	Create estate plan →
Montana	2W	—	N	2W	No	2015	No	No	Create estate plan →
Nebraska	2W	—	N	2W	No	2019	No	No	Create estate plan →
Nevada	2W	—	N	2W	2017	2017	2017	Yes	Create estate plan →
New Hampshire	2W	—	N	2W	No	2022	No	No	Create estate plan →
New Jersey	2W	—	N	2W	No	2020	No	No	Create estate plan →
New Mexico	2W	—	N	—	No	2021	No	Yes	Create estate plan →
New York	2W	2W	2W + N	2W	No	2021	No	No	Create estate plan →
North Carolina	2W	—	N	2W + N	No	2020	No	No	Create estate plan →
North Dakota	2W	—	N	2W	2021	2019	No	No	Create estate plan →
Ohio	2W	—	N	2W	No	2019	No	No	Create estate plan →
Oklahoma	2W	—	N	2W	No	2019	2024*	No	Create estate plan →
Oregon	2W	—	—	2W	No	2021	No	No	Create estate plan →
Pennsylvania	—	—	2W + N	2W	No	2020	No	No	Create estate plan →
Rhode Island	2W	—	N	2W	No	2023	No	No	Create estate plan →
South Carolina	2W	—	2W + N	2W + N	No	2021	No	No	Create estate plan →
South Dakota	2W	—	N	2W	No	2020	No	No	Create estate plan →
Tennessee	2W	—	N	2W	No	2019	No	No	Create estate plan →
Texas	2W	—	N	2W	No	2018	No	Yes	Create estate plan →
Utah	2W	—	N	1W	2020	2019	2020	No	Create estate plan →
Vermont	2W	—	N	2W	No	2019	No	No	Create estate plan →
Virginia	2W	—	N	2W	No	2012	No	No	Create estate plan →
Washington	2W	—	2W	2W	2022	2020	2022	Yes	Create estate plan →
West Virginia	2W	—	N	2W + N	No	2020	No	No	Create estate plan →
Wisconsin	2W	—	N	2W	No	2020	2024*	Yes	Create estate plan →
Wyoming	2W	—	N	2W	No	2021	No	No	Create estate plan →

Alabama Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

RON

2023

ROW

Alaska Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

RON

2022

ROW

Arizona Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

1W + N

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

2019

RON

2020

ROW

2019

Community property

Yes

Arkansas Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

RON

2021

ROW

California Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

RON

2024

ROW

Community property

Yes

Colorado Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

2022

RON

2020

ROW

2021*

Connecticut Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

2W + N

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

RON

2023

ROW

Delaware Create plan →

Will

Trust

POA

1W + N

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

RON

2023

ROW

District of Columbia Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

2023

RON

2023

ROW

Florida Create plan →

Will

Trust

POA

2W + N

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

2019

RON

2019

ROW

2020

Georgia Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

1W + N

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

RON

2022

ROW

Hawaii Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

RON

2020

ROW

Idaho Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

Healthcare Dir.

—

E-will

2023

RON

2019

ROW

2023*

Community property

Yes

Illinois Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

1W + N

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

RON

2021

ROW

2021*

Indiana Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

2018

RON

2018

ROW

Iowa Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

RON

2019

ROW

Kansas Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

RON

2022

ROW

Kentucky Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

RON

2019

ROW

Maine Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

RON

2022

ROW

Maryland Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

2W + N

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

2021

RON

2020

ROW

2022

Massachusetts Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

RON

2023

ROW

Michigan Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

RON

2018

ROW

Minnesota Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

RON

2018

ROW

Mississippi Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

RON

2022

ROW

Missouri Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

Healthcare Dir.

2W + N

E-will

RON

2020

ROW

2025*

Montana Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

RON

2015

ROW

Nebraska Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

RON

2019

ROW

Nevada Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

2017

RON

2017

ROW

2017

Community property

Yes

New Hampshire Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

RON

2022

ROW

New Jersey Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

RON

2020

ROW

New Mexico Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

Healthcare Dir.

—

E-will

RON

2021

ROW

Community property

Yes

New York Create plan →

Will

Trust

POA

2W + N

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

RON

2021

ROW

North Carolina Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

Healthcare Dir.

2W + N

E-will

RON

2020

ROW

North Dakota Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

2021

RON

2019

ROW

Ohio Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

RON

2019

ROW

Oklahoma Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

RON

2019

ROW

2024*

Oregon Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

—

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

RON

2021

ROW

Pennsylvania Create plan →

Will

—

Trust

—

POA

2W + N

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

RON

2020

ROW

Rhode Island Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

RON

2023

ROW

South Carolina Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

2W + N

Healthcare Dir.

2W + N

E-will

RON

2021

ROW

South Dakota Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

RON

2020

ROW

Tennessee Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

RON

2019

ROW

Texas Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

RON

2018

ROW

Community property

Yes

Utah Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

2020

RON

2019

ROW

2020

Vermont Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

RON

2019

ROW

Virginia Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

RON

2012

ROW

Washington Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

2022

RON

2020

ROW

2022

Community property

Yes

West Virginia Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

Healthcare Dir.

2W + N

E-will

RON

2020

ROW

Wisconsin Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

RON

2020

ROW

2024*

Community property

Yes

Wyoming Create plan →

Will

Trust

—

POA

Healthcare Dir.

E-will

RON

2021

ROW

This information is general in nature and not legal advice. Estate planning requirements change as states update their laws. Consult a licensed estate planning attorney in your state for guidance specific to your situation.

Available for 49 states and D.C. Louisiana is not available due to its unique Civil Code requirements.