Nolo was born in 1971 as a publisher of self-help legal books. Guided by the motto “law for all,” our attorney authors and editors have been explaining the law to everyday people ever since. Learn more about our history and our editorial standards.
Each article that we publish has been written or reviewed by one of our editors, who together have over 100 years of experience practicing law. We strive to keep our information current as laws change. Learn more about our editorial standards.
A will, also called a "last will and testament," can help you protect your family and your property. You can use a will to:
In Pennsylvania, if you die without a will, your property will be distributed according to state "intestacy" laws. Pennsylvania's intestacy law gives your property to your closest relatives, beginning with your spouse and children. If you have neither a spouse nor children, your grandchildren or your parents will get your property. This list continues with increasingly distant relatives, including siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews. If the court exhausts this list to find that you have no living relatives by blood or marriage, the state will take your property.
No. You can make your own will in Pennsylvania, using Nolo's Quicken WillMaker & Trust. However, you may want to consult a lawyer in some situations. For example, if you think that your will might be contested or you have especially complicated goals, you should talk with an attorney. See Do I Need an Attorney to Make My Estate Plan?
To make a will in Pennsylvania, you must be:
You must make your will on hard copy. That is, it must be on actual paper. It cannot be on an audio, video, or any other digital file. (Although, see "Can I Make a Digital or Electronic Will?," below.) Type and print your will using a computer, or you can use a typewriter.
To finalize your will in Pennsylvania, you must sign at the end your will. Any words after your signature will have no legal effect and not be part of your will.
Pennsylvania law does not require your will to be witnessed (unless you cannot sign the will yourself or can sign only with a mark). 20 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 2502.
However, while witnesses aren't required to make your will valid, they may be required at the time of probate (after you die) to "prove" your will to the probate court. Pennsylvania law allows you to avoid this hassle by making your will "self-proving." A self-proving will speeds up probate because the court can accept the will without contacting the witnesses who signed it.
To make your will self-proving, you sign your will in the presence of two witnesses. Then, in a notary's presence, the three of you sign affidavits that state who you are and that you signed your will in the presence of the witnesses. The notary then notarizes your signatures and you attach the affidavits to your will. 20 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 3132.1.
No, in Pennsylvania, you do not need to notarize your will to make it legal. However, you must go to a notary to make your will self-proving, see above.
Yes. In Pennsylvania, you can use your will to name an executor who will ensure that the provisions in your will are carried out after your death. Nolo's Quicken WIllMaker produces a letter to your executor that generally explains what the job requires. If you don't name an executor, the probate court will appoint someone to take on the job of winding up your estate.
In Pennsylvania, you may revoke or change your will at any time. You can revoke your will by:
If you marry after you make your will, your spouse gets whatever he or she would have received if you did not have a will unless your will gives him or her more than this or it says that you were considering marriage to your spouse at the time you made it.
If you and your spouse divorce or were in the process of divorce after you had established grounds for divorce (or if a court determines that your marriage is not legal), Pennsylvania law revokes any language in your will that leaves property to your spouse or names your spouse to be your executor. This rule does not apply if you specifically state in your will that divorce should not affect the provisions in your will. 20 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 2507. If you have any concerns about the effects of divorce on your will, see an estate planning attorney for help.
If you need to make changes to your will, it's best to revoke it and make a new one. However, if you have only very simple changes to make, you could add an amendment to your existing will – this is called a codicil. In either case, you will need to finalize your changes with the same formalities you used to make your original will (see above).
In a handful of states, you can make a legal will digitally—that is, you can make the will, sign it, and have it witnessed without ever printing it out. Although such electronic wills are currently available in only a minority of states, many other states are considering making electronic wills legal. Pennsylvania currently doesn't allow e-wills, but that may change in the future.