A Washington will is the document most families start with, and for good reason: it names who receives what you own, who will manage your estate, and who will raise your minor children if both parents are gone. But a will only works if it satisfies the Revised Code of Washington, and Washington’s rules differ in important ways from California, Idaho, and Oregon. Washington does not accept an unwitnessed handwritten will made here, it lets witnesses self-prove a will without a notary, it allows fully electronic wills signed with witnesses present over video, and it pairs the will with a community property system that shapes what you are actually able to give away.
This page is the Washington wills hub for Holmes Law. It explains how a valid will is executed under RCW 11.12.020, how self-proving works, what happens under the intestacy statute if you have no will, how a will moves through a Washington probate, and how and when a will can be contested. If you are deciding whether a will-based plan or a trust-based plan is right for you, the companion page on WA traditional wills walks through that decision. For the broader picture, including powers of attorney and health care directives, see the Washington estate planning overview.
What Makes a Washington Will Valid
Washington’s core execution statute is short. Under RCW 11.12.020(1), a will must be in writing, signed by the testator (or by someone else at the testator’s direction and in the testator’s presence), and attested by two or more competent witnesses. The witnesses must sign while in the presence of the testator and at the testator’s direction or request. The person making the will must be at least eighteen and of sound mind (RCW 11.12.010).
Witnesses and the interested-witness rule
Washington does not require that witnesses be disinterested, but using a beneficiary as a witness carries a penalty. Under RCW 11.12.160, a gift to a subscribing witness is void unless the will is also attested by two other competent witnesses who take nothing under it, or unless the witness can show the gift was not procured by duress, menace, fraud, or undue influence. Even when the gift is voided, the witness may take up to the share he or she would have received if there were no will. The practical lesson is simple: use two adults who receive nothing under the document.
Electronic presence and electronic wills
Washington is one of the more flexible states on remote execution. RCW 11.12.020 now allows the testator and witnesses to be in each other’s “electronic presence,” meaning they can see and communicate with one another in real time over audio-video technology, and the will may be signed in counterparts that together form a single document. Separately, Washington adopted the Uniform Electronic Wills Act at RCW 11.12.400 through 11.12.491, which permits a will that exists only as an electronic record, signed electronically, with witnesses who attest in the testator’s physical or electronic presence. For a remote practice such as Holmes Law, these rules make it possible to complete a valid signing without anyone traveling, although many clients still prefer a paper original.
Wills signed in another state
RCW 11.12.020 also contains a savings clause. A will executed in the manner prescribed by the law of the place where it was signed, or by the law of the testator’s domicile at the time of signing or at death, is treated as validly executed in Washington. A client who moved to Spokane or Seattle from California with a properly witnessed California will generally does not need to re-sign simply to satisfy Washington formalities. The will should still be reviewed, because the substantive rules on community property, spousal rights, and executor powers may produce results the client never intended.
Holographic and Oral Wills in Washington
Many people assume a handwritten, signed will is valid everywhere. In Washington it is not, at least when it is made here. Washington has no holographic will statute. A handwritten document signed by the testator but not attested by two witnesses fails RCW 11.12.020 unless the savings clause applies, for example because it was written while the testator lived in a state that recognizes holographic wills. That is a meaningful difference from California and Idaho, both of which accept holographic wills.
Oral (nuncupative) wills are recognized only in narrow circumstances under RCW 11.12.025, generally limited to members of the armed forces or merchant marine and to personal property of modest value. For planning purposes, an oral will is not a realistic option for anyone in Washington.
Self-Proving a Washington Will
A self-proved will can be admitted to probate without anyone tracking down the witnesses years later. Washington handles this differently from most states. Under RCW 11.20.020(2), the attesting witnesses may sign an affidavit or a declaration under penalty of perjury, attached to or included in the will, stating the facts of execution: that the testator signed or acknowledged the will, that the testator appeared to be of sound mind and not under duress, and that the witnesses signed in the testator’s presence at his or her request. Washington does not require a notary for this affidavit. When the affidavit is present, the court may admit the will without further testimony.
If a will lacks a self-proving affidavit, it is still valid, but the personal representative will need a witness to sign a declaration at the time of probate, or will need other evidence of due execution. When witnesses have died or cannot be found, that step can add delay and cost. Every will Holmes Law prepares for a Washington client includes the witness affidavit.
Community Property and What a Washington Will Can Control
Washington is a community property state under RCW 26.16.030. Property acquired by either spouse or registered domestic partner during the marriage, other than by gift or inheritance, is generally community property, and each spouse owns an undivided one-half interest. That has a direct effect on your will: you may dispose of your half of the community property and all of your separate property, but you cannot give away your spouse’s half.
Several Washington-specific tools interact with the will:
- Community property agreements under RCW 26.16.120 allow spouses to agree that all community property passes to the survivor at the first death without probate. They are simple and inexpensive, but they can override a carefully drafted will and can undermine Washington estate tax planning if not coordinated.
- Transfer-on-death deeds under chapter 64.80 RCW let an owner name a beneficiary for real property that passes outside probate. A will cannot revoke a recorded TOD deed.
- Washington’s Testamentary Disposition of Nonprobate Assets Act, chapter 11.11 RCW, allows a will to change the beneficiary of certain nonprobate assets, such as some bank accounts, if the will specifically refers to the asset and the other statutory conditions are met. Few states have a comparable rule, and it cuts both ways: an imprecise will can accidentally redirect an account.
- RCW 11.12.260 lets a will refer to a separate written list for tangible personal property such as jewelry and furniture, which you can update without re-signing the will.
Dying Without a Will: Washington Intestacy
If you die without a valid will, RCW 11.04.015 decides who inherits your probate estate. The pattern for a married person or registered domestic partner is distinctive:
- The surviving spouse or domestic partner receives all of the decedent’s share of community property.
- As to separate property, the survivor receives one-half if the decedent left issue (children or descendants).
- If there are no issue, the survivor receives three-quarters of the separate property when a parent or a parent’s issue survives.
- If there are no issue, parents, or issue of parents, the survivor receives all of the separate property.
Whatever does not pass to the spouse goes first to the decedent’s issue, then to parents, then to siblings and their descendants, then to grandparents and their descendants. If no relative qualifies, the property escheats to the state. Washington intestacy does not provide for stepchildren, unmarried partners, friends, or charities. It also does not let you choose a guardian for minor children or a personal representative, which the court will select under the priority list in RCW 11.28.120.
How Washington Probate Treats a Will
Probate in Washington is a superior court proceeding, usually opened in the county where the decedent lived. Compared with California, Washington probate is often more manageable, largely because of nonintervention powers.
Nonintervention powers
Under chapter 11.68 RCW, a personal representative of a solvent estate may be granted nonintervention powers, which allow the estate to be administered without court approval of each sale, payment, or distribution. A well-drafted will expressly requests nonintervention powers and waives bond. When those provisions are present, many Washington estates are opened, administered, and closed with only a handful of court filings, ending with a declaration of completion under RCW 11.68.110.
Notices, creditors, and inventory
After appointment, the personal representative must give notice of the appointment and pendency of probate to heirs and beneficiaries under RCW 11.28.237. To cut off creditor claims, the personal representative publishes and mails notice to creditors; under RCW 11.40.051, claims generally must be presented within four months after first publication, and if no notice is given, claims are generally barred twenty-four months after death. An inventory and appraisement is due within three months of appointment under RCW 11.44.015, although it is typically served on beneficiaries who request it rather than filed publicly.
Small estates
A Washington estate with no real property and a net probate estate at or below the statutory limit may be collected by a small estate affidavit under chapter 11.62 RCW, once forty days have passed since death. Real estate, even a small parcel, generally requires probate unless it passes by TOD deed, joint tenancy with right of survivorship, community property agreement, or trust.
The probate itself is covered step by step on the WA traditional wills page. If avoiding probate entirely is your priority, the WA revocable trust page explains how a funded living trust changes the picture.
Contesting a Washington Will
Washington’s will contest deadline is short and strictly enforced. Under RCW 11.24.010, a person with an interest in the estate who wishes to contest the validity of a will that has been admitted to probate, or to have a rejected will admitted, must file a petition within four months after the probate or rejection. The petitioner must also personally serve the personal representative within ninety days after filing. Missing either deadline generally ends the contest, no matter how strong the underlying claim.
Common grounds for a Washington will contest include:
- Lack of testamentary capacity: the testator did not understand the nature of the act, the property involved, or the natural objects of his or her bounty.
- Undue influence: a person in a confidential relationship who actively participated in procuring the will and received an unusually large share may trigger a presumption that must be rebutted.
- Fraud, duress, or improper execution under RCW 11.12.020.
- Revocation: a later will, or a physical act of revocation under RCW 11.12.040.
Most Washington will disputes are resolved under the Trust and Estate Dispute Resolution Act, chapter 11.96A RCW, which encourages mediation and binding nonjudicial agreements and gives the court broad authority, including discretion to award attorney fees from the estate or against a party. A no-contest clause can discourage frivolous challenges, but Washington courts generally will not enforce one against a contestant who acted in good faith and with probable cause.
Changes in Circumstances That Affect a Washington Will
Washington law revises your will automatically in some situations, which is one more reason to review it after a major life event:
- Divorce or dissolution of a domestic partnership revokes provisions in favor of the former spouse or partner under RCW 11.12.051, and RCW 11.07.010 applies a similar rule to many nonprobate assets.
- A child born or adopted after the will was signed and not provided for may take an intestate share under RCW 11.12.091, unless the will shows the omission was intentional.
- A spouse or domestic partner married after the will was signed may take an intestate share under RCW 11.12.095, again subject to exceptions.
- A gift to a beneficiary who dies before you may pass to that person’s descendants under the Washington anti-lapse statute, RCW 11.12.110, unless the will says otherwise.
A will can be amended by codicil or replaced by a new will, and revoked by a later writing or by burning, tearing, cancelling, or obliterating it with the intent to revoke, under RCW 11.12.040.
Washington Estate Tax and Your Will
Washington is one of a small number of states that imposes its own estate tax, and it applies at a far lower threshold than the federal estate tax, which reaches only a small fraction of estates. For deaths from July 1, 2026 through December 31, 2026, the Washington exclusion amount is $3,000,000, with rates ranging from 10 to 20 percent on amounts above the exclusion; beginning in 2027 the exclusion is scheduled to be indexed. Washington does not allow portability of an unused exclusion between spouses. A simple “all to my spouse” will can therefore waste the first spouse’s exclusion.
A will can include a credit shelter trust or a disclaimer trust to use the first spouse’s exclusion, and it can make a Washington-only QTIP election possible under RCW 83.100.047. Filing is triggered by the size of the gross estate, not the taxable estate, so even an estate that ends up owing nothing may need a return. Because trust-based estate tax planning is often cleaner, many Washington couples with larger estates pair a WA pour-over will with a living trust.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a handwritten will valid in Washington?
Only if it meets the two-witness rule in RCW 11.12.020, or if it was validly executed as a holographic will under the law of another state where it was signed or where the testator was domiciled. Washington does not recognize an unwitnessed handwritten will made here.
Does a Washington will need to be notarized?
No. A Washington will needs the testator’s signature and two competent witnesses. The self-proving affidavit under RCW 11.20.020(2) may be signed by the witnesses under penalty of perjury and does not require a notary.
Can I sign my Washington will over video?
Yes. RCW 11.12.020 permits witnesses to attest in the testator’s electronic presence, and the Uniform Electronic Wills Act provisions at RCW 11.12.400 through 11.12.491 permit a will that exists entirely in electronic form. The ceremony must still be conducted carefully to satisfy the statute.
How long do I have to contest a will in Washington?
Four months from the date the will is admitted to probate or rejected, under RCW 11.24.010, and the personal representative must be personally served within ninety days after the petition is filed.
What happens to my spouse’s half of our community property under my will?
Nothing. Your will controls only your half of the community property and your separate property. Your spouse’s half belongs to your spouse and passes under his or her own plan.
Does my California will still work if I moved to Washington?
It is generally valid as to execution under the savings clause in RCW 11.12.020, but it should be reviewed. Washington’s community property rules, estate tax, and nonintervention probate make a Washington-specific update worthwhile.
Speak With a Washington Wills Attorney
Michael Holmes is licensed in Washington and prepares wills for clients throughout the state, from King and Snohomish counties to Spokane, Clark, and the Tri-Cities. Holmes Law works remotely, and Washington’s electronic presence rules allow a valid signing without an office visit. To discuss your will, your community property, or whether a trust makes more sense, contact Holmes Law about Washington estate planning. You can also review the Washington trusts hub or return to the Washington estate planning page.