Does a will have to be notarized in Pennsylvania?

No. Notarization is not required for a Pennsylvania will to be valid, but adding a self-proving affidavit (which is notarized) lets the will be admitted to probate without calling the witnesses to testify.

Is a handwritten will valid in Pennsylvania?

Yes. Pennsylvania recognizes holographic wills (wills written entirely in the testator's handwriting and signed by the testator) without witnesses. We do not generate handwritten wills, but you may write one by hand if you prefer.

What is the minimum age to make a will in Pennsylvania?

You must be at least 18 years old to make a will in Pennsylvania.

Can I sign my will online in Pennsylvania?

No. Pennsylvania does not currently recognize electronic wills. A will must be signed and witnessed in person on paper to be valid; remote online notarization is allowed for other documents like trusts and powers of attorney.

What documents make up a complete estate plan in Pennsylvania?

A complete estate plan in Pennsylvania usually includes four documents: a Last Will and Testament, a Revocable Living Trust, a Durable Power of Attorney, and a Healthcare Directive. Will.com generates all four together based on your answers.

Estate plan requirements

Pennsylvania

Q: How many witnesses does a will need in Pennsylvania?

Pennsylvania does not require witnesses for a typical will. Pennsylvania does not require witnesses at the time of signing for a will signed with the testator's handwritten signature (20 Pa.C.S. §2502). Two witnesses must verify the testator's signature at probate, so having witnesses sign at execution is strongly recommended. Statutory exceptions: a will signed by mark requires two attesting witnesses present at the time of signing (§2502(2)), and a will signed at the testator's direction by another requires two attesting witnesses (§2502(3)). If you sign by mark or have someone sign on your behalf, two witnesses must be present and sign at execution.

Everything your estate plan needs to be valid in Pennsylvania: execution requirements, the documents we generate, statutory citations, and the exact wording our generators insert.

Requirements at a glance

Document	Witnesses	Notary
Will	None required	Recommended
Living trust	None required	Recommended
Power of attorney	2 required	Required
Healthcare directive	2 required	Not required

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Pennsylvania content last reviewed August 16, 2026.

Will

20 Pa. Cons. Stat. §2501 et seq.

Witnesses: None required

Pennsylvania does not require witnesses at the time of signing for a will signed with the testator's handwritten signature (20 Pa.C.S. §2502). Two witnesses must verify the testator's signature at probate, so having witnesses sign at execution is strongly recommended. Statutory exceptions: a will signed by mark requires two attesting witnesses present at the time of signing (§2502(2)), and a will signed at the testator's direction by another requires two attesting witnesses (§2502(3)). If you sign by mark or have someone sign on your behalf, two witnesses must be present and sign at execution.

Notarization: Recommended

Not legally required, but recommended for self-proving affidavit

Holographic will: Valid

Handwritten wills without witnesses are recognized in Pennsylvania

Self-proving affidavit: Available

20 Pa.C.S. §3132.1(b) lets an attested will be made self-proved at execution or at any later date by the testator's acknowledgment and the witnesses' affidavits, each made before an officer authorized to administer oaths under the laws of Pennsylvania OR under the laws of the state where execution occurs, or before an attorney at law who is a member of the bar of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania OR of the highest court of the state in which execution occurs and who certifies to such an officer under 20 Pa.C.S. §3132.1(c). In either case the officer's certificate, under official seal, must be attached or annexed to the will. The acknowledgment and affidavits may follow either the Uniform Probate Code form or the §3132.1(b) form, and a separate affidavit may be used for each witness whose affidavit is not taken at the same time as the testator's acknowledgment. Under subsection (a) of 20 Pa.C.S. §3132.1 the affidavit is NOT accepted by the register as proof where there is a contest with respect to the validity of the will, or where the will was signed by mark or by another under 20 Pa.C.S. §2502.

ViewWitness disqualification / interested-witness rule

20 Pa.C.S. §2502: an ordinary Pennsylvania will needs no attesting witnesses at all; it must be in writing and signed by the testator at the end, and two witnesses are required only when the testator signs by mark or another person signs the testator's name at the testator's direction. At probate every will must be proved by the oaths or affirmations of two competent witnesses (20 Pa.C.S. §3132), and for a will the testator signed personally, proof of the testator's signature is preferred, so the proving witnesses need not have watched the signing. The former witnesses section of the wills chapter has been repealed, and Pennsylvania has no interested-witness rule: no statute voids or reduces a gift to a witness who is also a beneficiary. Having two disinterested adults witness the signing remains the safer practice, since they can prove the will and complete a self-proving affidavit.

Living Trust

Witnesses: None required

No formal execution requirements beyond settlor signature; notarization strongly recommended when funding real property

Notarization: Recommended

Not legally required for the trust document, but needed to transfer real property

Durable Power of Attorney

20 Pa.C.S. §5601 et seq.

Witnesses: 2 required

Pennsylvania requires 2 witnesses for power of attorney execution

Notarization: Required

Notarization is required for a valid durable power of attorney

Key features of Pennsylvania POA

•9 'hot powers' requiring express grant under 20 Pa.C.S. §5601.4: trust creation/amendment/revocation, gifts, survivorship rights, beneficiary changes, delegation, joint-and-survivor annuity waiver, fiduciary powers, disclaimers, access to electronic-communications content

•Required statutory NOTICE to principal under §5601(c) and agent acknowledgment under §5601(d)

•Requires BOTH 2 witnesses AND notary (§5601(b))

State-specific notes

•Requires both two witnesses AND a notary (20 Pa.C.S. §5601(b)(3))

•Witnesses cannot be the agent, the notary, or any individual who signed the POA on the principal's behalf (20 Pa.C.S. §5601(b)(3)(ii); see also §5601(b)(2) for the by-mark/by-another disqualification)

ViewWarning notice for the principal

NOTICE THE PURPOSE OF THIS POWER OF ATTORNEY IS TO GIVE THE PERSON YOU DESIGNATE (YOUR "AGENT") BROAD POWERS TO HANDLE YOUR PROPERTY, WHICH MAY INCLUDE POWERS TO SELL OR OTHERWISE DISPOSE OF ANY REAL OR PERSONAL PROPERTY WITHOUT ADVANCE NOTICE TO YOU OR APPROVAL BY YOU. THIS POWER OF ATTORNEY DOES NOT IMPOSE A DUTY ON YOUR AGENT TO EXERCISE GRANTED POWERS, BUT, WHEN POWERS ARE EXERCISED, YOUR AGENT MUST USE DUE CARE TO ACT FOR YOUR BENEFIT AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH THIS POWER OF ATTORNEY. YOUR AGENT MAY EXERCISE THE POWERS GIVEN HERE THROUGHOUT YOUR LIFETIME, EVEN AFTER YOU BECOME INCAPACITATED, UNLESS YOU EXPRESSLY LIMIT THE DURATION OF THESE POWERS OR YOU REVOKE THESE POWERS OR A COURT ACTING ON YOUR BEHALF TERMINATES YOUR AGENT'S AUTHORITY. YOUR AGENT MUST ACT IN ACCORDANCE WITH YOUR REASONABLE EXPECTATIONS TO THE EXTENT ACTUALLY KNOWN BY YOUR AGENT AND, OTHERWISE, IN YOUR BEST INTEREST, ACT IN GOOD FAITH AND ACT ONLY WITHIN THE SCOPE OF AUTHORITY GRANTED BY YOU IN THE POWER OF ATTORNEY. THE LAW PERMITS YOU, IF YOU CHOOSE, TO GRANT BROAD AUTHORITY TO AN AGENT UNDER POWER OF ATTORNEY, INCLUDING THE ABILITY TO GIVE AWAY ALL OF YOUR PROPERTY WHILE YOU ARE ALIVE OR TO SUBSTANTIALLY CHANGE HOW YOUR PROPERTY IS DISTRIBUTED AT YOUR DEATH. BEFORE SIGNING THIS DOCUMENT, YOU SHOULD SEEK THE ADVICE OF AN ATTORNEY AT LAW TO MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND IT. A COURT CAN TAKE AWAY THE POWERS OF YOUR AGENT IF IT FINDS YOUR AGENT IS NOT ACTING PROPERLY. THE POWERS AND DUTIES OF AN AGENT UNDER A POWER OF ATTORNEY ARE EXPLAINED MORE FULLY IN 20 PA.C.S. CH. 56. IF THERE IS ANYTHING ABOUT THIS FORM THAT YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND, YOU SHOULD ASK A LAWYER OF YOUR OWN CHOOSING TO EXPLAIN IT TO YOU. I HAVE READ OR HAD EXPLAINED TO ME THIS NOTICE AND I UNDERSTAND ITS CONTENTS.

ViewAuthority requiring separate signed enumeration (9)

Pennsylvania has no statutory power of attorney form, so there is no lettered checklist to initial. These are the authorities Pennsylvania law requires you to grant separately and expressly: Create, amend, revoke, or terminate an inter vivos trust (20 Pa.C.S. §5601.4) Make a gift, subject to limitations of 20 Pa.C.S. §5601.4(b)(2) (gift-power exclusion replaced former §5604 by Act 95 of 2014) (20 Pa.C.S. §5601.4(b)(2)) Create or change rights of survivorship Create or change a beneficiary designation Delegate authority granted under this power of attorney Waive the principal's right to be a beneficiary of a joint and survivor annuity Exercise fiduciary powers that the principal has authority to delegate Access the content of electronic communications, as that term is defined in 18 Pa.C.S. §7102 (20 Pa.C.S. §5601.4(a)(9)) Disclaim property, including a power of appointment (20 Pa.C.S. §5601.4(b))

ViewAgent acknowledgment wording

I, {agentName}, HAVE READ THE ATTACHED POWER OF ATTORNEY AND AM THE PERSON IDENTIFIED AS THE AGENT FOR THE PRINCIPAL. I HEREBY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT WHEN I ACT AS AGENT: I SHALL ACT IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PRINCIPAL'S REASONABLE EXPECTATIONS TO THE EXTENT ACTUALLY KNOWN BY ME AND, OTHERWISE, IN THE PRINCIPAL'S BEST INTEREST, ACT IN GOOD FAITH AND ACT ONLY WITHIN THE SCOPE OF AUTHORITY GRANTED TO ME BY THE PRINCIPAL IN THE POWER OF ATTORNEY.

ViewWitness disqualification recital

I am not the agent designated in this power of attorney, not the notary public or other officer before whom the principal acknowledged this power of attorney, and not the individual (if any) who signed the power of attorney on behalf of and at the direction of the principal (20 Pa.C.S. §5601(b)(3)(ii); see also 20 Pa.C.S. §5601(b)(2) for the by-mark/by-another disqualification). If I took the acknowledgment of this power of attorney as an attorney at law, I am not acting as one of the two witnesses required by 20 Pa.C.S. §5601(b)(3)(ii).

Living Will / Advance Directive

20 Pa.C.S. §5421 et seq.

Witnesses: 2 required

Pennsylvania requires 2 witnesses

Notarization: Not required

Notarization is not required but may be accepted

State-specific notes

•Living Will: two adult (18+) witnesses required (20 Pa.C.S. §5442). Health Care Power of Attorney: two adult witnesses required (20 Pa.C.S. §5452)

•Witnesses cannot be the person who signed the document on the principal's behalf; a health care provider (or its agent) that provides care to the principal cannot sign on the principal's behalf, though no statute bars a provider from serving as a witness (§§5442(c), 5452(c)). The statutory example form only recommends that witnesses not be your heirs, creditors, or employees of your health care providers (20 Pa.C.S. §5471)

•Capacity: principal must be 18+ or have graduated high school, married, or be an emancipated minor (§§5442, 5452)

•Pregnancy override: life-sustaining treatment, nutrition and hydration must be provided to a pregnant principal who is incompetent and has an end-stage medical condition, or who is permanently unconscious, unless her attending physician AND an obstetrician who has examined her certify on her medical record, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, that the treatment (1) will not maintain her so as to permit continuing development and live birth, (2) will be physically harmful to her, or (3) will cause pain that cannot be alleviated by medication. Subsection (b) applies a parallel rule notwithstanding any order or direction to the contrary, including as to cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and subsection (d) makes the Commonwealth responsible for the resulting expenses (20 Pa.C.S. §5429)

•Pennsylvania sets out a statutory combined-form example, the Durable Health Care Power of Attorney and Health Care Treatment Instructions / Living Will (20 Pa.C.S. §5471)

ViewForm section list (6)

1. Appointment of Agent 2. Additional Instructions 3. Health Care Instructions 4. Organ Donation 5. HIPAA Authorization 6. Duration

ViewWitness disqualification recital

A witness may not be the individual who signed this document on behalf of and at the direction of the principal (20 Pa.C.S. §§5442, 5452, subsec. (c)(1) of each). Neither 20 Pa.C.S. §5442 nor 20 Pa.C.S. §5452 disqualifies the health care agent, an heir, or a health care provider from serving as a witness; a health care provider or its agent that provides health care services to the principal may not sign the document on the principal's behalf (subsec. (c)(2) of each). Disinterested witnesses remain best practice.

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6 more documents with a subscription

$29/year unlocks the documents below alongside the four free ones above. Your answers and documents are saved privately to your account, encrypted in your browser, so you can revise them any time life changes.

Disposition of Remains Authorization

Names the agent who controls funeral, burial, or cremation decisions, with optional preferences.

HIPAA Authorization

Stand-alone PHI release that survives death for the period you specify, separate from the in-life authorization in your healthcare directive.

Designation of Guardian of the Person and Estate

Pre-designates the person you want a court to appoint as Guardian of the Person and Guardian of the Estate under 20 Pa.C.S. §5604(c)(2) if a guardianship is ever needed. Pennsylvania uses 'guardian' (not 'conservator') for adult protective proceedings.

Business Succession Declaration

Identifies your interests in any closely-held businesses and how they should be transferred or wound down.

Real-Estate Retitling Checklist

Step-by-step instructions for transferring real-property deeds into your trust so the trust actually controls those assets.

Letter of Instruction

Non-binding personal note to your executor and family: where to find documents, account access, funeral wishes, and other practical guidance.

Free vs. paid

	Free	Paid
All 4 state-specific documents	Included in free	Included in paid tier
State-specific signing guide	Included in free	Included in paid tier
Download as PDF, print forever	Included in free	Included in paid tier
Secure online storage	Not in free	Included in paid tier
Covers real estate, business, digital, and funeral wishes	Not in free	Included in paid tier
Disposition of remains authorization	Not in free	Included in paid tier
Standalone HIPAA authorization	Not in free	Included in paid tier
Nomination of conservator	Not in free	Included in paid tier
Business succession declaration	Not in free	Included in paid tier
Real-estate retitling checklist	Not in free	Included in paid tier
Special needs trust provisions	Not in free	Included in paid tier
Letter of instruction, pre-filled and editable	Not in free	Included in paid tier
Edit anytime	Not in free	Included in paid tier
Annual review reminder	Not in free	Included in paid tier

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Electronic will status

Pennsylvania has not adopted electronic will legislation. A traditional paper will with physical signatures is required.

Digital assets access

Pennsylvania has adopted RUFADAA (2020). This is the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, which lets your executor, trustee, or agent access your email, social media, cryptocurrency wallets, cloud storage, and other digital accounts after death or incapacity.

To take advantage of RUFADAA, your will, trust, or power of attorney must explicitly grant authority to access digital assets. Without explicit authorization, service providers can deny access even to a court-appointed executor.

Remote online notarization (RON)

Pennsylvania authorized RON in 2020. 57 Pa.C.S. §306.1 (RULONA, Act 97 of 2020) authorizes remote online notarization generally and contains no carve-out for wills or self-proving affidavits. Pennsylvania has not enacted an electronic wills act, and no Pennsylvania appellate decision confirms that a self-proving affidavit executed by RON will be accepted by every register of wills. Will.com's guidance is therefore to notarize the self-proving affidavit in physical presence; this is a caution about acceptance in practice, not a statutory prohibition.

Will

Not allowed

Trust

Allowed

POA

Allowed

Remote online witnessing (ROW)

Pennsylvania does not allow remote online witnessing for estate planning documents. Witnesses must be physically present when you sign.

Will

Not allowed

Trust

Not allowed

POA

Not allowed

HC Directive

Not allowed

This information is general in nature and not legal advice. Laws change. Consult a licensed estate planning attorney in Pennsylvania for guidance specific to your situation.

Also for Pennsylvania

Make a Pennsylvania will

Free last will and testament, valid in Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania healthcare directive

Name your medical decision-maker and treatment wishes.

Pennsylvania power of attorney

Name someone to handle finances if you can't.

Pennsylvania living trust

Skip probate and keep your estate private.

Get started Start free

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