Will.com / Wills / Pennsylvania
Make your own Pennsylvania will.
Yours in about 20 minutes. Legally valid in Pennsylvania. Free to create, or add secure online document storage with the $29/year subscription.
Is a self-written will legal in Pennsylvania?
Yes. Pennsylvania recognizes wills you write yourself, as long as they meet the state's signing requirements. The governing statute is 20 Pa. Cons. Stat. §2501 et seq..
Pennsylvania does not require witnesses at signing, though having two adults sign as witnesses is recommended and accepted. 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). Pennsylvania also recognizes handwritten ("holographic") wills, where the key terms and signature are in your own handwriting.
You must be at least 18 years old and of sound mind. Witnesses cannot be people who inherit under your will (or in some states, the spouse of a person who inherits). 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 Pennsylvania
A Pennsylvania 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. Pennsylvania requires the same minimal 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.
Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania courts.
- 3
Sign your will
Print and sign your will. Having witnesses is recommended but not required in Pennsylvania. 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 $13.99 million in 2025) or Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania's signing rules were followed.
Self-proving affidavit in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania recognizes self-proving affidavits, a notarized statement attached to the will in which the witnesses swear to the signing in front of a notary. See 20 Pa.C.S. §3132.1.
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.
Family changes after you sign
A child born or adopted after the will. Pennsylvania has a default rule under 20 Pa.C.S. §2507(4): a child born to or adopted by the testator after making the will, not provided for in the will and not intentionally omitted, takes the share the child would have received if the testator had died unmarried and intestate as to property not passing to a surviving spouse. for an after-born child who isn't named or accounted for in the will. The safest practice is to update your will when family changes.
A spouse you married after signing. Pennsylvania's default rule for an omitted spouse is at 20 Pa.C.S. §2507(3): a surviving spouse who married the testator after the will was made takes the intestate share unless the will makes provision for the spouse, the spouse expressly waived in writing, or the will indicates it was made in contemplation of the marriage.. Updating the will after marriage avoids relying on the default.
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