Who Can Witness Wills?

For a will to be binding, there are a number of requirements that must be met. While state laws on wills vary, most require you to be of legal adult age to make a will and have testamentary capacity (i.e., that you be “of sound mind”).

Yahoo Finance’s recent article entitled “Who Can and Cannot Witness a Will?” explains that you usually must have your will witnessed.

Witnesses to your will are significant in the event that someone disputes its validity later or if there is a will contest. If one of your heirs challenges the terms of your will, a witness may be asked by the probate court to attest that they watched you sign the will and that you appeared to be of sound mind when you did so. Witnesses provide you with another layer of validity to a will, and it makes it more difficult for someone to dispute its legality.

When drafting a will, it’s important to understand several requirements, including who can serve as a witness. Generally, but depending on applicable state law, anyone can witness a will, as long as they meet two requirements: (i) they are of legal adult age; and (ii) they do not have a direct interest in the will. Therefore, the types of people who could witness a will for you include your friends who aren’t to receive anything from your estate, a neighbor, co-workers and any of your relatives who aren’t included in your will.

If you’ve hired an experienced estate planning attorney to help you draft your will, he or she can also act as a witness, provided they’re not named as a beneficiary. An attorney who’s also acting as the executor of the will (the person who oversees the process of distributing your assets and paying off any outstanding debts owed by your estate) can also witness a will.

Most states don’t allow you to select individuals who will benefit from your will as witnesses. If you are drafting a will that leaves assets to your spouse, children, siblings, or parents, then none of those individuals can serve as witnesses to the will’s signing because they all have an interest in the will’s terms. The same is true for relatives or spouses of any of the beneficiaries.

The witnesses to your will do not need to review the entire will document in order to sign it. They only need to be able to verify that the document exists, that you have signed it in their presence and that they have signed it in front of you.

When you sign the will, get both witnesses together at the same time. You’ll need to sign, initial and date the will in ink, then have your witnesses do the same. Some states require you to attach a self-proving affidavit or have the will notarized in front of the witnesses.

Reference: Yahoo Finance (Dec. 28, 2020) “Who Can and Cannot Witness a Will?”