Yes, you can write your own will and have it notarized online, but only if your state recognizes remote online notarization for estate documents — and in some cases only if your state also recognizes electronic wills. Notarization doesn’t make a will valid in the first place; what it does is attach a self-proving affidavit that smooths probate later. Getting the state rules wrong can invalidate the document entirely, so the sequence matters: confirm what your state allows, then draft, then sign with the right witnesses, then notarize.
Does Your State Allow It
Remote online notarization, or RON, lets you complete a notarization through a secure video call instead of in person. Over 40 states and the District of Columbia have permanent RON laws on the books. Most of those laws were written with real estate closings in mind, and some states carve wills out of RON entirely or impose extra conditions for estate documents. Don’t assume that because your state allows remote notarization for a mortgage, it allows it for your will.
A separate question is whether your state recognizes electronic wills at all — wills that are created, signed, and stored digitally rather than printed on paper. The Uniform Electronic Wills Act is a model law drafted by the Uniform Law Commission to standardize how states handle this. As of early 2025, seven states and the District of Columbia have adopted it: Colorado, Idaho, Minnesota, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah, and Washington. A handful of additional states recognize electronic wills under their own statutes, bringing the total to roughly 14 jurisdictions.
If you live outside those states, you can still write your own will and sign a paper version — you just can’t execute the will itself electronically. Whether you can then have the self-proving affidavit notarized by video depends on your state’s RON statute and any specific carve-outs for wills.
What Notarization Actually Does for a Will
A common misconception is that a will has to be notarized to be legal. It doesn’t. A properly witnessed will is enforceable whether or not a notary ever touches it. What notarization adds is a self-proving affidavit: a sworn statement signed by you and your witnesses before a notary, confirming under oath that you signed voluntarily, you appeared mentally competent, and the witnesses watched you sign.
The payoff shows up in probate. Without a self-proving affidavit, the court generally needs your witnesses to appear and testify that the will is legitimate. If a witness has moved, become incapacitated, or died by then, proving the will gets slow and expensive. The affidavit removes that step — the court accepts the will based on the notarized sworn statements. For a document that may sit in a drawer for decades, that’s the real reason to involve a notary at all.
How an Online Notarization Session Works
If your state permits RON for will documents, you’ll need a device with a camera and microphone, a stable internet connection, and a government-issued photo ID. The session runs in three stages.
- Identity verification. The platform analyzes your ID with credential authentication software and asks you knowledge-based questions pulled from public records — previous addresses, vehicle history, financial accounts. Some platforms add biometric checks like facial recognition. This is actually more rigorous than a typical in-person notarization, where the notary usually just glances at your license.
- Live signing. On a recorded video call, the notary confirms you understand the document and are signing voluntarily. You and your witnesses, who may also appear remotely in states that allow it, electronically sign the self-proving affidavit while the notary watches.
- Certification. The notary applies an electronic seal and digital certificate. The platform stores the completed document and keeps a recording of the entire session.
Expect to pay roughly $25 per notarization act, plus about $10 per witness if the platform provides remote witnesses, and more if multiple documents need separate seals. That’s on top of what you paid to draft the will.
The recording itself is a quiet benefit. If someone later challenges the will on undue influence grounds, there’s video of the signing — your demeanor, your surroundings, who was in the room. An in-person notarization typically produces nothing more than a stamp and a line in the notary’s journal.
What Makes the Will Itself Valid
Most states follow a framework based on the Uniform Probate Code with three core requirements. The will must be in writing. You must sign it yourself, or direct someone to sign in your presence if you physically cannot. And at least two witnesses must each sign the document within a reasonable time after watching you sign or hearing you acknowledge your signature.
The Uniform Probate Code also offers an alternative: you can acknowledge the will before a notary public instead of using two witnesses. Not every state has adopted this alternative, but where it exists, a notarized will without separate witnesses is valid on its own.
You also have to be at least 18 and mentally competent when you sign. Competency means you understand what property you own, who your natural beneficiaries are, and that you’re creating a document to distribute your assets after death. The signing must be voluntary. A will signed under pressure from someone who stands to benefit is vulnerable to challenge.
The Handwritten Alternative
If what you really want is to write a will yourself with no notary and no witnesses, roughly half the states accept holographic wills — wills where the material portions and your signature are in your own handwriting. A few states that don’t normally accept them make exceptions for military members on active duty or mariners at sea.
Holographic wills carry real risk. Hard-to-read handwriting creates disputes about intent. There’s no built-in verification, so unhappy family members have an easier time challenging the document. And because there’s no self-proving affidavit, your executor will likely need to find someone who can authenticate your handwriting in court.
Where DIY Wills Go Wrong
The legal system lets you write your own will, but it won’t protect you from your own mistakes. The common problems aren’t dramatic. They’re quiet errors that only surface when you’re no longer around to clarify.
- Ambiguous language. Templates and online forms often include boilerplate that contradicts something you wrote elsewhere. Courts interpret wills strictly, and a phrase that seems obvious to you can read differently to a judge.
- Missing alternate beneficiaries. If you leave everything to your spouse and your spouse predeceases you, the will may not control where those assets go. The property falls into intestacy and state law decides.
- Giving away property you don’t fully own. Your will can only transfer your share of jointly owned property. Writing “I leave my house to my daughter” when you own the home jointly with a partner creates confusion and potential litigation.
- No executor or the wrong executor. Failing to name an executor forces the court to appoint one. Naming someone unreliable or antagonistic to your beneficiaries causes fights that drain the estate.
- Improper witness execution. Both witnesses must watch you sign and then sign the document themselves. If one witness signs while you’re out of the room, or if a witness is also a beneficiary, the will or specific bequests can be invalidated.
None of these are fixable after death. If you’re writing your own will, at minimum have an estate attorney review the finished document before you execute it. That one-time cost is a fraction of what your family would spend litigating a flawed will.
What Happens if the Will Is Found Invalid
If a court decides your will doesn’t meet your state’s requirements, the document is thrown out entirely. Your property then passes under your state’s intestacy laws, a default set of rules that distributes assets based on family relationships with no regard for what you actually wanted.
Under intestacy, a surviving spouse typically has first priority, followed by children, then parents, then siblings. The exact split varies by state. In some states a surviving spouse inherits everything if there are no children; in others the spouse gets only a fraction even when children exist. Unmarried partners, close friends, stepchildren, and charities receive nothing under intestacy unless they can establish a separate legal claim.
The process takes longer and costs more too. Without a valid will naming an executor, the court appoints an administrator, often after a hearing where family members fight over who gets the job. Assets remain frozen during that process, and legal fees come out of the estate before anyone inherits anything.
Changing or Revoking an Online Will Later
Revoking a paper will is simple: tear it up, burn it, or write a new one that says the old one is revoked. Electronic wills add complexity because digital files can be copied, backed up, and stored on servers you don’t directly control.
You can execute a new will — electronic or paper — that explicitly revokes all prior wills. You can permanently delete every copy of the electronic file and make it unrecoverable. Or you can execute a formal revocation document signed by you and two witnesses that references the original and states your intent to revoke it.
The hard part is making sure every copy is actually gone. If you used a platform that stores documents, contact the custodian and confirm deletion. If your attorney has a copy, they need to destroy it. A stray digital copy invites exactly the confusion you were trying to avoid.
For smaller changes — updating a beneficiary, swapping an executor, adjusting a specific bequest — a codicil is often cleaner than redrafting the whole will. A codicil is a separate document that modifies the existing will. It must be signed and witnessed with the same formalities as the will itself and should clearly reference which will it’s modifying. If the changes are extensive, drafting a new will is usually cleaner than layering codicils on top of each other.