Make your own Virginia will.
Yours in about 20 minutes. Legally valid in Virginia. Free to create, or add secure online document storage with the $29/year subscription.
Is a self-written will legal in Virginia?
Yes. Virginia recognizes wills you write yourself, as long as they meet the state's signing requirements. The governing statute is Va. Code §64.2-403 (execution); §64.2-401 et seq. (chapter).
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). Virginia also recognizes handwritten ("holographic") wills, written entirely in your own handwriting and signed.
You must be at least 18 years old and of sound mind. An emancipated minor may also make a will; only an unemancipated minor is barred (Va. Code §64.2-401(B)). Choose witnesses who don't inherit under your will: some states void or reduce a gift to a witness, and the exact Virginia 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 Virginia
A Virginia 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. Virginia 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.
Virginia 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 Virginia 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 Virginia 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 Virginia's signing rules were followed.
Self-proving affidavit in Virginia
Virginia 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 Va. Code §64.2-452.
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 Virginia
Va. Code §64.2-405: no person is incompetent to testify for or against a will solely by reason of an interest in it; Virginia has no UPC-style purge rule and beneficial provisions to attesting witnesses remain effective.
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 Virginia law rather than by your wishes. The safest practice is to update your will when your family changes.
Va. Code §64.2-419 and §64.2-420 govern afterborn and after-adopted children, and which section applies turns on whether the testator had children when the will was executed. Under §64.2-419, where the testator executed the will having no children, an afterborn or after-adopted child, or any descendant of that child, who is neither provided for nor mentioned in the will takes the portion of the estate the child would have taken had the testator died intestate; being mentioned in the will at all defeats the claim. Under §64.2-420, where the will makes provision for a living child of the testator, an afterborn or after-adopted child who is neither provided for nor expressly excluded by the will takes the lesser of (i) that intestate portion or (ii) the equivalent in amount of the bequests and devises to any child named in the will, and where more than one child takes, the largest aggregate bequest or devise to any child. The bar is higher under §64.2-420: mere mention does not defeat the claim there, the will must expressly exclude the child. Under both sections the devisees and legatees contribute ratably out of what was devised and bequeathed to them, either in kind or in money as the court deems proper (§64.2-419(B), §64.2-420(B)), and if the afterborn or after-adopted child dies unmarried, without issue, and before reaching 18 years of age, so much of that child's portion as remains unexpended reverts to the person to whom the will gave it. Both sections reach only a child born or adopted after the will was executed.
A spouse you married after signing. Updating the will after marriage avoids relying on whatever Virginia law provides by default.
Va. Code §64.2-422: a spouse who married the testator after the will was executed, and for whom the will fails to provide, receives the same share of the estate the spouse would have received if the decedent had left no will. One exception defeats it, and Virginia allows it to be shown two ways: it appears from the will, or from the provisions of a valid premarital or marital agreement, that the omission was intentional. An agreement made during the marriage can establish that intent just as a premarital one can, so the will is not the only place the answer can be. Virginia does not narrow the base of the share, so it makes no carve-out for property devised to a child of the testator born before the marriage.
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