Pennsylvania has specific signing, witness, and self-proving requirements. A will downloaded from the internet often fails on a technicality and forces your family into a contested probate. We draft wills that hold up.
What a Pennsylvania will controls
Your will directs who inherits assets that pass through your probate estate — bank accounts in your sole name, real estate titled solely to you, personal property, and business interests without succession provisions.
It also names the executor who will administer your estate, and — critically for parents of minor children — names the guardian who will raise them.
Pennsylvania will requirements
Under 20 Pa.C.S. § 2502, a Pennsylvania will must be in writing, signed at the end by the testator (or by someone in the testator's presence and at their direction), and the testator must be at least 18 and of sound mind.
Witnesses are not strictly required for a holographic-style signed will in Pennsylvania, but a will should always be executed with two witnesses and a notary on a self-proving affidavit — without it, your executor must hunt down witnesses years later to prove the will in the Register of Wills.
What happens if you die without a will in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania's intestate succession statute (20 Pa.C.S. § 2102 et seq.) decides who inherits — not you. A surviving spouse does not automatically inherit everything. If you have children from a prior relationship, your spouse splits the estate with them. If you have no spouse or children, assets pass to parents, then siblings, then more remote relatives.
Intestacy also means the Orphans' Court appoints the administrator and the guardian for your children. That is not a process any parent should leave to a judge who never met your family.
When a will is not enough
A will does not avoid probate, does not control retirement accounts or life insurance with named beneficiaries, and offers no protection against Pennsylvania inheritance tax. For most clients, a will is one piece of a plan that also includes a revocable trust, durable power of attorney, healthcare directive, and beneficiary-designation review.