How to Make a Will in Virginia

This is general information, not legal advice. Laws vary by state and individual circumstances differ. Consult a licensed Virginia attorney for guidance specific to your situation.

Under Virginia Code § 64.2-401, a valid will must meet three baseline requirements: the testator (that's you) must be at least 18 years old and of sound mind, the will must be in writing, and it must be signed by you — or by someone else in your presence and at your direction if you're physically unable to sign.

Two competent witnesses must also sign the will, in your presence. That's the step people rush or skip. Virginia does not require a notary for the will itself to be valid. But here's the thing — adding a self-proving affidavit (notarized at signing) saves your executor from having to track down those witnesses years later to authenticate the document in probate court. Skip it and you're creating an avoidable headache for your family.

Handwritten (holographic) wills are also recognized in Virginia, provided the will is entirely in the testator's handwriting and signed. No witnesses required for holographic wills. But that exception has a catch: proving it's entirely in your handwriting and hasn't been altered becomes the court's problem.

• Testator must be 18+ and mentally competent
• Will must be in writing (typed or entirely handwritten)
• Signed by the testator (or by proxy at testator's direction)
• Two competent witnesses must sign in the testator's presence
• Witnesses should not be beneficiaries — Virginia law doesn't void the will, but it creates complication
• Notarized self-proving affidavit is optional but highly recommended

Content requirements are more flexible than the execution rules, but a complete will should address several things. At minimum: who gets your property (beneficiaries), who manages your estate (executor), and who cares for minor children if both parents are gone (guardian designation).

Every time I've reviewed a contested estate, the will either lacked a clear residuary clause — that catch-all provision distributing everything not specifically named — or it named an executor without naming a backup. Executors die, move away, or simply decline. One backup name takes five minutes and saves months of court time.

Virginia doesn't require specific legal language. Plain English works. What matters is clarity. Vague language like "divide my estate equally among my children" sounds fine until one child has predeceased you and there's no instruction on what happens to that share.

Quick note on digital assets: Virginia passed legislation addressing fiduciary access to digital property. If you have online accounts, crypto holdings, or digital businesses, a separate digital assets clause — or at minimum a reference to a digital assets memorandum — is now standard practice in Virginia estate planning.

Honestly, this is where most people make the wrong call based on the wrong metric. They see the price difference and stop there.

DIY/online will (LegalZoom, Trust & Will, similar services): $0–$150. Works reasonably well for straightforward estates — single state, no business interests, no blended family complications, no minor children with special needs, assets under $1 million.

Attorney-drafted will: $300–$750 for a simple will; $1,000–$1,500+ for a will with a testamentary trust or complex asset structure. Worth every dollar if your situation has any of the above complications. Clients who come to me after a DIY will gets challenged in probate always say the same thing: they thought their situation was simple.

One scenario where DIY is a false economy: blended families. If you have children from a prior relationship, stepchildren, or an estranged family member likely to contest, a properly structured will with an in terrorem (no-contest) clause — drafted by someone who knows Virginia probate — is not optional. The cost of a contested estate starts at $5,000–$15,000 in legal fees and goes up from there.

Virginia follows the Uniform Disposition of Community Property Act, but Virginia itself is a common law property state, not a community property state. That distinction matters enormously if you've moved from a community property state (California, Texas, Arizona, and eight others). Property acquired during marriage in those states may retain its community property character — and how your will handles it needs to reflect that.

Virginia also has an elective share statute (Va. Code § 64.2-308). A surviving spouse who is disinherited or left less than their legal share can claim an augmented estate amount under a formula tied to the length of the marriage. You cannot simply cut a spouse out of a Virginia will and expect it to stick. I've seen people try.

One thing Virginia does that many states don't: it permits electronic wills under Va. Code § 64.2-403.1, enacted as part of the Uniform Electronic Wills Act. An electronic will must be signed and witnessed electronically by two witnesses in real-time audio-video communication. This is still relatively new, and estate attorneys have varying views on how reliably it will hold up in contested situations. If you go this route, know that you're on the frontier edge of Virginia estate law.

A will doesn't automatically transfer your assets. After death, the will must be admitted to probate in the Circuit Court of the county or city where you were domiciled. Virginia probate fees are set by statute — currently $1 per $1,000 of estate value for the first $100,000, then $0.50 per $1,000 above that. A $400,000 probate estate runs roughly $250 in probate fees — relatively modest compared to most states.

Timeline: simple estates with no disputes typically complete probate in 9–18 months in Virginia. That's not because the law is slow — it's the creditor notice period, required accounting deadlines, and court scheduling. Contested estates can run 2–4 years.

Assets that pass outside probate — jointly titled property, accounts with named beneficiaries (IRAs, 401(k)s, life insurance), and assets in a living trust — are not governed by the will at all. A common mistake: people write a detailed will and then forget to update the beneficiary designation on a $300,000 IRA. The will is irrelevant to that asset. The beneficiary designation on file with the financial institution controls, period.

The sequence matters. Don't write the document before you've made the decisions — and don't skip the signing formalities after you have.

• 1. Take inventory: list all assets (real estate, accounts, vehicles, business interests, digital assets) and their current titling
• 2. Decide on beneficiaries for each major asset category — be specific, name alternates
• 3. Choose your executor: someone organized, trustworthy, and willing to serve; name a successor
• 4. If you have minor children, identify a guardian — this is often the hardest decision and should be discussed with the potential guardian before you name them
• 5. Draft the document — with an attorney, online service, or your own words (if holographic)
• 6. Identify two witnesses who are not beneficiaries under the will
• 7. Sign the will with both witnesses present simultaneously — all three of you sign in each other's presence
• 8. Execute a self-proving affidavit before a notary at the same signing session
• 9. Store the original in a fireproof safe or with your attorney; tell your executor where it is
• 10. Review the will every 3–5 years or after any major life event (marriage, divorce, death of a beneficiary, major asset acquisition)