Does a will have to be notarized in California?

No. Section 6110 does not require notarization, and a notary's seal does not count as a second witness. A document that misses the witnessing rule may still be admitted only through a separate statutory exception, such as a valid holographic will or clear and convincing proof of testamentary intent under section 6110(c)(2).

Is a handwritten will valid in California?

Yes. Section 6111 makes a will valid as a holographic will, witnessed or not, where the signature and the material provisions are in the testator's own handwriting. Statements of testamentary intent may appear in the handwriting or in a commercially printed form will.

How many witnesses does a California will need?

Two. They must sign during the testator's lifetime, must have been present at the same time when the testator signed or acknowledged, and must have understood that the instrument was the testator's will. A witness who signs after the death does not count.

What happens if a will was signed incorrectly?

It may still be admitted. Section 6110(c)(2) allows a will that does not meet the witnessing requirement to be treated as valid where the proponent establishes by clear and convincing evidence that the testator intended it to be their will when they signed it.

What if the original will cannot be found?

Section 6124 presumes the testator destroyed it intending to revoke. The presumption applies only where the will was last in the testator's possession and the testator was competent until death, and it affects the burden of producing evidence rather than being conclusive.

What Makes a Will Valid in California

A California will generally must be in writing, signed, and witnessed by two people who signed during the testator's lifetime after understanding the document was a will. A holographic will can be valid without witnesses when its signature and material provisions are in the testator's handwriting. Notarization is not a substitute for execution.

A signed will resting on a desk, the signature page uppermost, with a fountain pen laid across it. — Most questions about a will are answered by the signature page and the names beneath it.

This page answers the question people usually ask before any other: is this document good? It is written for the person holding a will after a death and wondering whether it will stand, and for the person making one who wants to know what the law actually requires rather than what a form assumes.

The three requirements, and who may make a will

Probate Code section 6100 sets the threshold: an individual 18 or more years of age who is of sound mind may make a will. A conservator may make one for a conservatee only where a court has authorized it, and a mentally competent conservatee keeps the right to revoke or amend that will. Section 6110 then supplies the usual form. The will must be in writing. It must be signed by the testator, or by another person in the testator’s name, in their presence and at their direction. And it must be witnessed by being signed, during the testator’s lifetime, by at least two persons each of whom was present at the same time when the testator signed or acknowledged the will, and who understood that the instrument was the testator’s will. Nothing in the section asks for a notary, a lawyer, or a particular form of words; sections 6110(c)(2) and 6111 provide limited routes for a document that misses the usual witnessing formalities.

Sources: Probate Code s.6100 - Who may make a will · Probate Code s.6110 - How a California will is executed · Verified 2026-09-01.

What California does not require

Commonly assumed	Actually
The will must be notarized	No. Section 6110 does not require it, and a notary’s seal does not stand in for a missing witness
A lawyer must draft it	No. A store-bought form or a handwritten page can be valid
Every page must be initialed	No. Common practice, not a requirement
Witnesses must not be beneficiaries	An interested witness does not invalidate the will. Unless two other subscribing witnesses are disinterested, a devise to that witness raises the section 6112 presumption, subject to its fiduciary-capacity exception
The will must be filed somewhere in advance	No. It is delivered to the court after the death, by whoever has custody
A will avoids probate	No. A will directs who inherits; it does not decide whether the estate needs administering

Sources: Probate Code s.6112 - Interested witnesses · Verified 2026-09-01.

The last row is the one that surprises people most often. Whether probate is needed is decided by how assets were titled, not by the existence of a will.

Handwritten wills, and wills that were signed wrong

A document that fails section 6110 is not automatically worthless. Section 6111 provides that a will not complying with those formalities is valid as a holographic will, whether or not witnessed, if the signature and the material provisions are in the handwriting of the testator — and a statement of testamentary intent may be set out either in the handwriting or as part of a commercially printed form will. Where a holographic will carries no date, it can be invalidated to the extent it conflicts with another will whose later execution cannot be established, or where the testator lacked capacity during part of the period in which it might have been signed. Revocation has its own rules: under section 6120 a will is revoked by a later will that revokes it expressly or by inconsistency, or by being burned, torn, cancelled, obliterated or destroyed with the intent to revoke, by the testator or by another person in the testator’s presence and at their direction.

Sources: Probate Code s.6111 - Holographic wills · Probate Code s.6120 - How a will is revoked · Verified 2026-09-01.

When the original cannot be found

Section 6124 supplies the rule that decides many missing-will arguments. Where the will was last in the testator’s own possession, the testator was competent until death, and neither the will nor a duplicate original can be found afterwards, the law presumes the testator destroyed it intending to revoke it. It is a presumption affecting the burden of producing evidence, not a conclusion. Whether evidence of loss, destruction without revocatory intent, or possession by someone else rebuts it depends on the proof in the particular case.

Sources: Probate Code s.6124 - The presumption when a will cannot be found · Verified 2026-09-01.

A valid will can still be set aside

Compliance with the execution formalities does not resolve every validity question. A formally compliant will can still fail if the testator lacked testamentary capacity at signing, if it was procured by undue influence, or if the signature was forged. Those are grounds a will contest can raise, and they are proved by evidence about the circumstances rather than by the face of the page alone. A beneficiary considering a contest should also read what a no contest clause does.

If you were left out

A will that is entirely valid can still be incomplete. California writes certain people back in: a spouse married after the will was signed, and a child born or adopted afterwards, may take a share regardless of what the document says. That is covered under disinheritance and omitted heirs. Where there is no valid will at all, intestate succession decides who inherits, and the answer is fixed by statute rather than by anyone’s intentions.

The Probate Code sections behind this page

Each section links to its official text at the California Legislature’s own site. The full index of sections covers the rest of the Code.

Probate Code section 6100: Who may make a will. Read section 6100
Probate Code section 6110: How a California will is executed. Read section 6110
Probate Code section 6111: Holographic wills. Read section 6111
Probate Code section 6112: Interested witnesses. Read section 6112
Probate Code section 6120: How a will is revoked. Read section 6120
Probate Code section 6124: The presumption when a will cannot be found. Read section 6124