Guide · updated 2026-08-02
Handwritten wills: recognised, restricted, or rejected
About half the states recognise a handwritten and signed will with no witnesses. A few recognise them only for soldiers and mariners. Florida rejects them even when validly made elsewhere. The conditions differ more than the headline does.
The general rule where they are recognised
A holographic will is one written and signed by the testator without witnesses. States that recognise them generally require that the signature and the material provisions are in the testator's own handwriting. California's probate code states it that way: an instrument that does not meet the ordinary witnessed-execution requirements is valid as a holographic will if the signature and the material provisions are in the testator's hand. Some states additionally require a date; others do not, and the presence or absence of that requirement is not safe to assume from a neighbouring state's rule.
The narrow recognitions are very narrow
New York recognises holographic wills only for members of the armed forces during a declared or undeclared armed conflict, people serving with or accompanying such a force, and mariners at sea. The recognition expires roughly a year after discharge from that service. Maryland's is similarly limited to armed-forces members and additionally requires that the instrument was signed outside the United States, expiring a year after discharge. These are not partial recognitions of the general rule. They are separate provisions for people who cannot practically obtain witnesses.
Florida rejects them, including valid out-of-state ones
Florida's execution statute is explicit that an instrument not executed with the required formalities is void as a will in the state, and that a holographic will validly executed in another state is void in Florida. That is the interesting case, because most states have a saving provision recognising a will validly executed under the law of the place where it was made. Florida's rule is a deliberate exception to that pattern, and it is why a move across a state line is worth raising with a lawyer rather than assuming a document travels.
What recognition does and does not mean
Recognition means the state's courts can admit the document to probate. It does not mean the document says what its author meant, disposes of everything they owned, or names anyone to carry it out. The requirement table reports recognition status per state with the statute behind it. It reports the law; it does not evaluate a document, and nothing on this site produces one.
Official sources for this guide
Now do the math →
📋 Will Requirements by State
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