Make your own Washington will.
Yours in about 20 minutes. Legally valid in Washington. Free to create, or add secure online document storage with the $29/year subscription.
Is a self-written will legal in Washington?
Yes. Washington recognizes wills you write yourself, as long as they meet the state's signing requirements. The governing statute is Wash. Rev. Code §11.12.010 et seq.
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 Washington 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 Washington
A Washington 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. Washington 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.
Washington 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 Washington 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 Washington 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 Washington's signing rules were followed.
Self-proving affidavit in Washington
Washington 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.
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 Washington
Wash. Rev. Code §11.12.160: a will is not invalidated by an interested witness, but unless there are at least two other subscribing witnesses who are not interested, §11.12.160(2) creates a rebuttable presumption that the witness procured the gift by duress, menace, fraud, or undue influence; if the interested witness fails to rebut the presumption, §11.12.160(3) reduces the gift to what the witness would receive under intestacy (the presumption has no other effect, §11.12.160(4)).
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 Washington law rather than by your wishes. The safest practice is to update your will when your family changes.
Wash. Rev. Code §11.12.091: a child born to or adopted by the decedent after the will's execution who survives the decedent and is neither named nor provided for in the will receives an amount equal in value to what the child would have received under RCW 11.04.015 had the decedent died intestate, unless the court determines on clear and convincing evidence that a smaller share, including no share at all, is more in keeping with the decedent's intent (§11.12.091(3)). The claim is defeated at the threshold where it appears from the will or from other clear and convincing evidence that the failure to provide was intentional (§11.12.091(1)). Whether the child was named or provided for is decided by rule, not impression: a child identified in the will by name is named however identified; a reference to the class of the decedent's children, descendants or issue born after the will's execution names a person within that class, but a reference to another class such as the decedent's heirs or family does not; and a nominal interest is not a provision for the child (§11.12.091(2)). Provisions made for the child outside the will are not a separate defense. They are among the things the court may weigh under §11.12.091(3), along with the elements of the dispositive scheme, provisions for the decedent's other children, and provisions for the omitted child's other parent, in deciding whether a smaller share fits the decedent's intent. Bequests abate as provided in chapter 11.10 RCW (§11.12.091(4)).
A spouse you married after signing. Updating the will after marriage avoids relying on whatever Washington law provides by default.
Wash. Rev. Code §11.12.095: a spouse or state-registered domestic partner whom the decedent married or entered a domestic partnership with after the will's execution, and who survives the decedent, receives an amount equal in value to what the survivor would have received under RCW 11.04.015 had the decedent died intestate, unless the court determines on clear and convincing evidence that a smaller share, including no share at all, is more in keeping with the decedent's intent (§11.12.095(3)). The claim is defeated at the threshold where it appears from the will or from other clear and convincing evidence that the failure to name or provide was intentional (§11.12.095(1)). Whether the survivor was named or provided for is decided by rule: a spouse or domestic partner identified in the will by name is named whether identified as a spouse or partner or in any other manner; a reference to the decedent's future spouse or spouses or future domestic partner or partners names the person the decedent later marries or partners with, but a reference to another class such as the decedent's heirs or family does not; and a nominal interest is not a provision (§11.12.095(2)). In weighing a smaller share the court may consider the survivor's property interests under community or quasi-community property law, the elements of the decedent's dispositive scheme, and a marriage or domestic partnership settlement or other provision for the survivor outside the will. Bequests abate as provided in chapter 11.10 RCW (§11.12.095(4)).
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