California Will Execution Requirements

A California will must be in writing and signed by the testator — or in the testator’s name by another person in the testator’s presence and at the testator’s direction, or by a conservator under a court order — and witnessed by at least two persons who, being present at the same time, witnessed either the signing or the testator’s acknowledgment of the signature or of the will, and who understand that the instrument they sign is the testator’s will (Cal. Prob. Code § 6110). California does not punish an interested witness by voiding the instrument: under § 6112(b) a will is not invalid because a subscribing witness is interested, but a devise to that witness raises a rebuttable presumption of duress, menace, fraud, or undue influence unless two other disinterested witnesses also subscribed (§ 6112(c)).

This page is a practitioner reference for attorneys and paralegals handling California matters. It summarizes statutory requirements — it is not legal advice and does not substitute for reading the current statute or consulting California counsel.

The governing statute

Wills are governed by Division 6, Part 1 of the Probate Code (§§ 6100–6390), enacted by Stats. 1990, Ch. 79. Division 6 is California’s own scheme rather than a Uniform Probate Code enactment, though several provisions parallel UPC concepts. Chapter 2 (§§ 6110–6113) carries execution, Chapter 3 (§§ 6120–6124) revocation and revival, Chapter 6 (§§ 6200–6243) the California statutory will, and Chapter 11 (§§ 6380–6390) the Uniform International Wills Act. Section 6103 limits most of Part 1 to testators who died on or after January 1, 1985.

Citation: Cal. Prob. Code, Division 6, Part 1 (Wills); execution at § 6110 Official source: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov.

Execution requirements

Requirement	California rule	Citation
Who may execute	18 or more years of age and of sound mind. A conservator may make a will for a conservatee only under a court order per § 2580.	§ 6100(a), (b)
Capacity standard	Not mentally competent if unable to understand the nature of the testamentary act, understand and recollect the nature and situation of the property, and remember and understand relations to living descendants, spouse, parents, and those whose interests the will affects — or if a mental health disorder producing delusions or hallucinations causes a devise otherwise not made.	§ 6100.5(a)(1), (2)
Writing	Required, except for a holographic will under § 6111.	§ 6110(a)
Signature	By the testator; in the testator’s name by another in the testator’s presence and at the testator’s direction; or by a conservator under a § 2580 order.	§ 6110(b)(1)–(3)
Witnesses	At least two, signing during the testator’s lifetime, each of whom (A) being present at the same time witnessed the signing or the testator’s acknowledgment, and (B) understands that the instrument is the testator’s will.	§ 6110(c)(1)
Interested witnesses	The will is not invalid. A devise to a subscribing witness creates a rebuttable presumption of duress, menace, fraud, or undue influence unless two other subscribing witnesses are disinterested; no presumption where the devise is solely in a fiduciary capacity. Unrebutted, the witness takes no more than an intestate share.	§ 6112(b)–(d)
Notarization	Not required, and not an alternative to witnesses.	Div. 6, Pt. 1 (no provision)
Self-proving affidavit	No provision in Division 6, Part 1. Section 6222 says a two-witness attestation clause on the statutory will satisfies § 8220 — a Division 7 section not researched for this page.	§ 6222 (cross-reference)
Harmless error	Narrow: a will not executed in compliance with the witnessing paragraph is treated as if it were, on clear and convincing evidence that at signing the testator intended the document to be their will.	§ 6110(c)(2)
Holographic wills	Valid, witnessed or not, if the signature and material provisions are in the testator’s handwriting. Testamentary intent may be handwritten or part of a commercially printed form.	§ 6111(a), (c)
Statutory form	Yes — the California statutory will, § 6240. There is only one.	§§ 6223, 6240
Undue influence	Execution or revocation procured by duress, menace, fraud, or undue influence is ineffective to that extent.	§ 6104
Community property	May dispose of separate property, the testator’s one-half of community property (§ 100), and one-half of quasi-community property (§ 101).	§ 6101

Three rows repay a second look. Section 6110(c)(1)(B) is unusual — the witnesses must understand the instrument is the testator’s will, a comprehension requirement rather than a presence requirement, and one of the few places a properly-attested-looking California will can still fail. The statutory text does not require the witnesses to sign in the testator’s presence, or in each other’s presence; it requires that they be present at the same time when they witness the signing or acknowledgment, and that they sign during the testator’s lifetime. And § 6110(c)(2)’s harmless-error rule by its terms cures noncompliance with paragraph (1) — the witnessing requirement — not a missing writing or signature.

Where the statute is silent

Division 6, Part 1 contains no electronic wills provision, no nuncupative (oral) will provision, and no self-proving affidavit. Proof of will runs through Division 7 (§ 8220 et seq.), which was not researched for this page — so this page cannot tell you what a California attestation clause establishes at probate, only that § 6222 says the statutory will’s clause satisfies § 8220. Part 1 is likewise silent on the omitted-spouse and omitted-child provisions, which sit in Division 2, Part 3, and on the § 21380 presumption applying to devises benefiting drafters and care custodians.

Holographic wills, the statutory will, and the two dispensing powers

Holographic wills are fully valid in California. Section 6111(a) requires only that the signature and the material provisions be in the testator’s handwriting; no witnesses are needed. A date is not an element, but its absence carries consequences under § 6111(b): where the omission creates doubt about which of two inconsistent instruments controls, the holograph fails to the extent of the inconsistency unless shown to postdate the other; and if the testator lacked capacity at some point in the window during which it might have been written, it is invalid unless shown to have been executed during a lucid period. Section 6111(c) allows the statement of testamentary intent to appear in the testator’s handwriting or as part of a commercially printed form — which is why a store-bought form can support a holograph where the dispositive provisions are handwritten.

The California statutory will (Chapter 6) is a separate track with its own execution rule. Under § 6221 the testator completes the blanks and signs, and “each witness shall observe the testator’s signing and each witness shall sign his or her name in the presence of the testator” — the mirror image of § 6110(c)(1), where the witnesses must be present at the same time as each other but need not sign in the testator’s presence. Section 6223 provides there is only one California statutory will. Section 6224 is the trap for a rushed intake: selecting more than one disposition clause in paragraph 2 or 3 makes no gift, and selecting more than one — or none — in paragraph 5 sends the residue to the testator’s heirs as if there were no will.

California supplies two distinct dispensing powers. Section 6110(c)(2) applies to any will and cures a defect in witnessing on clear and convincing evidence of testamentary intent at signing. Section 6226(c) applies only to a document executed on a statutory will form, validating it on clear and convincing evidence that the form is signed by the testator, that the testator knew and approved the contents and intended testamentary effect, and that the testamentary intent is clear.

On revocation, § 6120 recognizes a subsequent will revoking expressly or by inconsistency, and physical act — burning, tearing, canceling, obliterating, destroying — with revocatory intent, by the testator or another in the testator’s presence and at the testator’s direction; § 6121 extends that to a will executed in duplicate. Dissolution or annulment revokes dispositions, powers of appointment, and fiduciary nominations favoring a former spouse (§ 6122), with a parallel rule for terminated registered domestic partnerships for wills executed on or after January 1, 2002 (§ 6122.1). Section 6122(e) is the closer: except as provided in those two sections, no change of circumstances revokes a California will.

Wills executed outside California

Section 6113 is one of the most generous validation provisions in the Probate Code, and it is the reason most out-of-state wills present no problem here. A written will is validly executed if its execution complies with any of three alternatives: (a) § 6110 or § 6111, the California statutory will, or the Uniform International Wills Act; (b) the law of the place where the will was executed, at the time of execution; or (c) the law of the place where, at execution or at death, the testator was domiciled, had a place of abode, or was a national.

That third branch does real work. A will executed in a state requiring three witnesses, or one recognizing a holograph California would reject, is validated so long as it satisfied the law of the testator’s domicile, abode, or nationality at either measuring date. Note what § 6113 does not do: it validates execution, not dispositive provisions, and it does not displace § 6101’s limits on what a California testator may dispose of.

Chapter 11 adds a fourth route. Section 6381 makes a will valid as to form irrespective of where made or where assets sit if it complies with §§ 6382–6384 — a writing in any language, declared before two witnesses and an authorized person, signed or acknowledged in their presence, with signatures at the end, each sheet signed and numbered, and a certificate from the authorized person. Under § 6388, California attorneys in good standing are authorized persons.

Frequently asked questions: California Will Execution Requirements

How many witnesses does a California will require, and must they sign in the testator’s presence?

Two. Under Cal. Prob. Code § 6110(c)(1), a will must be signed during the testator’s lifetime by at least two persons, each of whom — being present at the same time — witnessed either the signing of the will or the testator’s acknowledgment of the signature or of the will, and each of whom understands that the instrument they sign is the testator’s will. The statute requires the witnesses to be present at the same time as each other, but does not require them to sign in the testator’s presence. The California statutory will is different: § 6221 requires each witness to observe the signing and to sign in the testator’s presence.

Can a beneficiary witness a California will?

Yes, and the will remains valid. Cal. Prob. Code § 6112(a) permits any person generally competent to be a witness to witness a will, and § 6112(b) provides that a will or any provision is not invalid because it is signed by an interested witness. But under § 6112(c), unless there are at least two other disinterested subscribing witnesses, a devise to a subscribing witness creates a presumption — affecting the burden of proof — that the witness procured it by duress, menace, fraud, or undue influence. If the presumption is not rebutted, § 6112(d) limits the witness to the share they would have received had the will not been established.

Does California recognize holographic wills?

Yes. Under Cal. Prob. Code § 6111(a), a will that does not comply with § 6110 is valid as a holographic will, whether or not witnessed, if the signature and the material provisions are in the testator’s handwriting. A date is not required, but § 6111(b) creates problems where the omission raises doubt about which of two inconsistent instruments controls, or where the testator’s capacity during the possible execution window is in question. Section 6111(c) permits the statement of testamentary intent to appear either in the testator’s handwriting or as part of a commercially printed form will.

Does California have a self-proving affidavit for wills?

No provision for one appears in Division 6, Part 1. The only reference is Cal. Prob. Code § 6222, which states that execution of the attestation clause provided in the California statutory will by two or more witnesses satisfies § 8220 — a proof-of-will provision in Division 7 that was outside the statutory research behind this page. Verify Division 7 (§ 8220 et seq.) before relying on any conclusion about what a California attestation clause establishes at probate.

Will California save a will that was not properly witnessed?

Sometimes. Cal. Prob. Code § 6110(c)(2) provides that a will not executed in compliance with the witnessing requirement is treated as if it were, if the proponent establishes by clear and convincing evidence that at the time the testator signed the will, the testator intended the document to constitute the testator’s will. The provision cures defects in witnessing only — it does not excuse the absence of a writing or of the testator’s signature. A separate rule, § 6226(c), validates a document executed on a California statutory will form on clear and convincing evidence of signature, knowledge and approval of contents, and clear testamentary intent.

Does California recognize a will executed in another state?

Yes, under Cal. Prob. Code § 6113, which offers three independent routes to valid execution: compliance with § 6110 or § 6111, the California statutory will, or the Uniform International Wills Act; compliance with the law of the place of execution at the time of execution; or compliance with the law of the place where the testator was domiciled, had a place of abode, or was a national, measured either at execution or at death. Section 6113 validates execution formalities; it does not expand what a California testator may dispose of under § 6101.