In Washington State, the basic requirements for a will to be valid include:

The testator (the one whose will it is) is at least 18 years old.

In Washington State, minors cannot have wills. In fact, there are a lot of things that minors can’t do besides buy cigarettes. They cannot inherit property, for example (see more about this below).

The testator must be of sound mind, acting voluntarily, and not under duress.

Much of the reasoning behind requiring witnesses for the signing of the will is to ensure that the person signing is doing so freely, voluntarily, and knowingly. A will executed under duress will not be found to be valid. Similarly, a will signed by an adult with diminished capacity will also be found to be invalid.

The will must be signed by the testator (or by someone on his or her behalf, in the testator’s presence and at his or her direction).
The will must be signed before two witnesses who are not named in the will, and those witnesses must also sign the will while in the presence of the testator and at his or her direction.

During signing, I always ask my client if they asked the witnesses to attend. It’s important that the person making the will has control over all aspects of the signing, as it shows that they knew what they were doing when they decided to create their will. The witnesses also sign as a record of their involvement. Most attorneys now use an affidavit for witnesses, which allows their certification of the testator’s mental state to be admissible in court without the witnesses being required to testify.

The will must be in writing.

Hopefully this one is self-explanatory. It’s hard to figure out what the testator wanted when relying on oral statements given to different people at different times. The writing does not need to be typeset — handwriting also will work, so long as the hand-written document is signed, dated, and witnessed.

But what if…?

If a will is found to be invalid, one of two things can happen. If the probate court can find a previous will that meets all the legal requirements, then the court will probably apply that will. Otherwise, the laws of intestacy will be followed. Under Washington State law, this generally means that your community property passes to your spouse and your separate property is divided among your spouse and children. If you have minor children, the court will impose a custodian on the asset passing to your children, and that custodian will be subject to court oversight until the children reach 18, 21, or 25 years old.