Estate plan requirements
Washington
Everything your estate plan needs to be valid in Washington: execution requirements, the documents we generate, statutory citations, and the exact wording our generators insert.
Requirements at a glance
| Document | Witnesses | Notary |
|---|---|---|
| Will | 2 required | Recommended |
| Living trust | None required | Recommended |
| Power of attorney | 2 required, or notary | Alternative to witnesses |
| Healthcare directive | 2 required, or notary | Alternative to witnesses |
- Community property:
- Yes
Your complete Washington estate plan
Will, living trust, durable power of attorney, healthcare directive, and six more documents, all valid in Washington.
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Washington content last reviewed May 18, 2026.
Will
Wash. Rev. Code §11.12.010 et seq.
Witnesses: 2 required
Two competent witnesses must sign at the testator's request and in the testator's presence or electronic presence (RCW §11.12.020(1), as amended by 2021 c 140 s 1013)
Notarization: Recommended
Not legally required, but recommended for self-proving affidavit
Holographic will: Not valid
Washington does not recognize handwritten wills without witnesses
Self-proving affidavit: Available
Allows the will to be admitted to probate without witness testimony
ViewWitness disqualification / interested-witness rule
Living Trust
Wash. Rev. Code §26.16.030 et seq.
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
Certification of trust: RCW §11.98.075
Washington lets your trustee prove the trust to a bank, brokerage, title company, insurer, or transfer agent with a short certification instead of the trust itself. It states that the trust exists, who the trustee is, and what the trustee may do, and it leaves out who inherits and what each person receives. Will.com generates the Washington Certification of Trust with your trust, built to the contents that section requires. Sign it in front of the same notary, at the same sitting as the trust. The same section also says what happens if someone demands the trust itself anyway. RCW §11.98.075(8) provides that a person making a demand for the trust instrument in addition to a certification of trust or excerpts is liable for damages, including reasonable attorney fees, if the court determines that the person did not act in good faith in demanding the trust instrument.
ViewCommunity property article
Durable Power of Attorney
Witnesses: 2 required, or notary
Washington accepts either 2 witnesses or notarization for power of attorney execution
Notarization: Accepted as alternative to witnesses
A Washington Power of Attorney may be executed by either two witnesses OR acknowledgment before a notary public; either is sufficient for general validity (RCW §11.125.050(1)). A notary acknowledgment is separately necessary for any conveyance of real property to be recordable with the County Auditor (RCW §65.04.030, §65.08.070, and §64.04.020), so we render both two witnesses and a notary block by default to keep every real-estate power usable. Either signing path alone produces a valid Washington POA.
State-specific notes
ViewWitness disqualification recital
Health Care Directive
Wash. Rev. Code §70.122.010 et seq.
Witnesses: 2 required, or notary
Washington accepts either 2 witnesses or notarization
Notarization: Accepted as alternative
A Washington Health Care Directive may be executed by either acknowledgment before a notary public (or other person authorized by law to take acknowledgments) OR signature before two qualified witnesses; either path is sufficient (RCW §70.122.030(1)). We render both witness signature lines and a notary acknowledgment block by default to maximize portability and satisfy either prong on the executed face.
State-specific notes
ViewWitness disqualification recital
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 and Conservator
Pre-nominates the person you want a court to appoint if a conservator (or guardian of the estate) is ever needed.
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 |
Community property
Washington is a community property state. Assets acquired during marriage are jointly owned by both spouses. This affects every document in your estate plan.
Married couples should consider how community property rules interact with their will, trust, power of attorney, and healthcare directive to ensure consistent coverage.
Electronic will status
Washington has adopted electronic will legislation (2022). You may be able to create, sign, and witness a will electronically using approved methods.
Digital assets access
Washington has adopted RUFADAA (2016). 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)
Washington authorized RON in 2020.
Will
Allowed
Trust
Allowed
POA
Allowed
Remote online witnessing (ROW)
Washington allows remote online witnessing for all estate planning documents. Witnesses can observe your signing over a live video call instead of being physically present. Wills authorize electronic-presence witnessing under RCW §11.12.020 (2021 c 140, effective Jan 1, 2022). Nontestamentary estate-planning documents (POA, HCD, living trust, disposition of remains) authorize electronic-presence witnessing under RCW Ch. 11.135 (Uniform Electronic Estate Planning Documents Act, 2024 c 188; witnessing at §11.135.090; remote notarization at §11.135.080 via the RON framework in RCW §42.45.280). Witnessing this Will in your electronic presence does not turn it into an ELECTRONIC will, and the difference decides whether it can be probated. An electronic will is a separate instrument under RCW 11.12.400 to 11.12.491: §11.12.410 defines signing one as affixing to or logically associating with the record an electronic symbol, sound or process, and §11.12.440 sets out how it is executed. Two rules attach to an electronic will and to nothing else. Under RCW §11.20.020(3), an electronic will whose custody has not been maintained by a qualified custodian must be treated as a lost or destroyed will under RCW 11.20.070. And under RCW §11.12.450(1), an electronic will is self-proving only if the attesting witnesses' affidavits are affixed to or logically associated with it AND a qualified custodian maintains custody of it at all times after execution, with the affidavits in one of the two forms §11.12.450(3) prints, which is not the form of the affidavit in this packet. So print this Will and sign it in ink, and have the witnesses sign the paper, whether they are in the room or in your electronic presence; RCW §11.12.020(1) lets a will witnessed in electronic presence be executed in counterparts, which together are a single document. Do not sign it with an electronic signature and keep the file yourself: that would make it an electronic will with no qualified custodian, and §11.20.020(3) would have your executor prove it as a lost will.
Will
Allowed
Trust
Allowed
POA
Allowed
HC Directive
Allowed
This information is general in nature and not legal advice. Laws change. Consult a licensed estate planning attorney in Washington for guidance specific to your situation.