You must be at least 18 and of sound mind, the will has to be in writing, you have to sign it, and two witnesses have to be present at the same time when you sign and then sign it themselves. That is the list.
It is a short list, which is why the failures are almost always about the witnesses rather than the words.
The witnessing rule, which is where wills die
Both witnesses have to be present at the same time, and they have to understand that the document they are watching you sign is your will. Signing it Tuesday and having your neighbor sign it Thursday is not the same thing, and that sequence has invalidated more homemade wills than any other single mistake.
Choose witnesses who do not inherit anything. An interested witness raises a presumption problem around their gift, and while it does not necessarily void the whole will, it hands anyone who wants to fight a place to start.
What notarization does and does not do
A notary does not make a California will valid. Witnesses do. What notarization can add is a self-proving affidavit, which lets the will be admitted without tracking down the witnesses years later. We do both at every signing, because finding a witness two decades on is genuinely difficult.
Capacity is a low bar, and it is still contestable
Sound mind means understanding roughly what you own, who your family is, and what the document does. Plenty of people with early dementia meet it. But if a change late in life shifts assets between children, expect scrutiny, and let your attorney document capacity properly at the time of signing.
What a will cannot do
- Avoid probate. A will is the ticket into probate court, not around it.
- Override a beneficiary designation. Your 401(k) goes to whoever is on the form, regardless of what your will says.
- Control jointly held property, which passes to the surviving joint tenant automatically.
- Control trust assets, which are governed by the trust.
That last group is the bulk of a typical estate. Which is why a will is often the least important document in the folder, even though it is the one everyone has heard of.
“I've had people bring in a will they wrote in 1996 naming an executor who died in 2011 and leaving property they sold in 2004. It is not invalid. It is just useless, and useless takes just as long in court.”
Delia Vasquez-HartThe probate consequence
If your will governs a house, your family is in probate on that house. California statutory fees are 4 percent of the first $100,000, 3 percent of the next $100,000, 2 percent of the next $800,000, and 1 percent of the next $9 million, calculated on gross value before the mortgage. On a $1 million estate that is about $23,000 to the attorney and $23,000 to the executor.
Since April 1, 2025, AB 2016 does allow a primary residence worth up to $750,000 to use a simplified court procedure. Useful for some families. Not most, at Los Angeles prices.
Questions we get asked
Do I need a lawyer to write a will?
No. California recognizes wills that people write themselves, including handwritten ones. Whether yours will survive a challenge is a different question from whether it is valid.
Where should I keep the original?
Somewhere your executor can actually reach it. A safe deposit box the bank will not open without a court order is a classic own-goal. We keep originals for clients at no charge.
Can I write my kids out?
Yes, and say so explicitly by name rather than by omission. A child accidentally left out can have rights that a child deliberately disinherited does not.
Does a California will cover property in another state?
It can direct it, but that state's court usually has to be involved, which means a second probate. A trust is the standard fix for out-of-state real property.
Our will-based package is $1,200 flat and includes the will, a durable power of attorney, an advance health care directive, and a HIPAA authorization, signed and witnessed in the office with a notary present. If you own a house here, ask about the trust package instead before you buy this one.