Make your own Delaware will.
Yours in about 20 minutes. Legally valid in Delaware. Free to create, or add secure online document storage with the $29/year subscription.
Is a self-written will legal in Delaware?
Yes. Delaware recognizes wills you write yourself, as long as they meet the state's signing requirements. The governing statute is 12 Del. C. § 201 et seq. (execution requirements at 12 Del. C. § 202).
Your will needs to be in writing, signed by you, and witnessed by 2 adults. You don't need a notary for the will itself to be valid, but adding a notarized "self-proving" affidavit makes the probate process faster later (this tool generates that for you automatically).
You must be at least 18 years old and of sound mind. Choose witnesses who don't inherit under your will: some states void or reduce a gift to a witness, and the exact Delaware rule is covered below. This tool walks you through the rules so you don't trip over them.
A will you write yourself has the same legal force as one drafted by an attorney, provided you follow the signing rules. Courts admit self-written wills to probate every day. An attorney's value is in advising on complex estates, not in drafting the document itself.
What it costs to make a will in Delaware
A Delaware estate-planning attorney typically charges $300 to $600 for a simple will, and $1,000 to $1,500 for a will-plus-revocable-trust package. Rates run higher in dense metros and lower in rural areas. Most attorneys bill at $250 to $400 per hour and need one or two meetings to draft a basic will.
You can also write a will entirely from scratch with a sheet of paper and a pen, with no software at all. Delaware requires the same 2-witness signing process regardless of who drafts the document. The risk with a from-scratch will is technical: a missing self-proving affidavit, a witness who's also a beneficiary, or wording that creates ambiguity for the probate court. That's what this tool prevents.
Will.com is free at the document level. The $29/year subscription adds cloud-stored, zero-knowledge-encrypted access so you can edit and update your plan as life changes.
Delaware will requirements at a glance
How it works
- 1
Answer a few questions
About you, your family, and what you own.
- 2
Download your will
A complete, personalized document, formatted for Delaware courts.
- 3
Sign with witnesses
Print and sign in front of 2 adult witnesses. Keep the signed copy somewhere safe.
When you might want an attorney instead
An online will works for most people. It's the right tool when your situation is straightforward: you want to leave your assets to family or friends, you don't have complex tax issues, and you're not anticipating a fight over your estate.
Consider hiring an attorney if any of these apply:
- Your estate is large enough to trigger federal estate tax (over $15 million in 2026) or Delaware estate or inheritance tax.
- You own a business, complex investments, or assets in multiple states or countries.
- You're in a blended family, especially if you want to leave assets to a current spouse while protecting children from a prior relationship.
- You have a child or beneficiary with special needs and want a supplemental-needs trust that won't disqualify them from public benefits.
- You expect someone to contest the will, or you're disinheriting a close family member.
- You have substantial retirement accounts and want sophisticated beneficiary planning.
If none of these apply, an online will is genuinely fine. The legal validity of your will doesn't depend on who drafted it, only on whether Delaware's signing rules were followed.
Self-proving affidavit in Delaware
Delaware recognizes self-proving affidavits. Will.com attaches one to your will: a short statement your witnesses sign in front of a notary, swearing to what they saw when you signed. See 12 Del. C. §1305.
A self-proven will skips the requirement to track down witnesses years later for the probate court. It's optional, but adding the affidavit at signing time saves your executor work. Will.com generates the affidavit alongside the will.
Who can witness your will in Delaware
12 Del. C. §§ 202(a)(2), 203: a will must be signed by 2 or more credible witnesses. § 203(b) provides that a will or any provision thereof is not invalid because the will is signed by an interested person, so Delaware has no execution-blocking witness disqualifications and beneficial provisions to attesting witnesses are preserved.
Family changes after you sign
A child born or adopted after the will. A child who arrives after you sign, and who isn't named or accounted for in the will, is covered by Delaware law rather than by your wishes. The safest practice is to update your will when your family changes.
12 Del. C. §301 (shares of after-born children): where a testator becomes a parent of a child after making a will, and no provision, vested or contingent, was made for that child, specifically or as a member of a class, by will or otherwise, that child, or any descendant of the child if the child predeceased the parent, takes the same portion of the parent's estate, real and personal, as the child or descendant would have been entitled to if the parent had died intestate. Delaware keys the section to becoming a parent, which is broader than birth, and any provision at all defeats it: a contingent gift, a gift to a class the child falls within, or a provision made outside the will is enough. The section does not apply, and no intestacy is created, where the testator has provided in the will that the birth of any child or children subsequently shall not affect the will.
A spouse you married after signing. Updating the will after marriage avoids relying on whatever Delaware law provides by default.
12 Del. C. §321, §322 and §323 (marriage after will): under §321, where a married person made a will before the marriage and has not made provision for that person's spouse by will or otherwise, the surviving spouse takes the same part of the estate, real and personal, as the spouse would have been entitled to if the decedent had died intestate. A provision made outside the will defeats the claim just as a provision in the will does. Under §322 that part is assigned and distributed in the same manner as if the deceased spouse had died intestate, and where there are several devisees or legatees each contributes a just portion of it. Under §323 a subsequent marriage does not revoke the will of a person who, by that will or otherwise, made provision for a surviving spouse.
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