Your California will, handwritten and lawyer-free

Yes, if you finish it correctly. California Probate Code Section 6111 recognizes a holographic will, which is one where your signature and all of the material provisions (the parts that say who gets what) are in your own handwriting. No witnesses are required. Our service gives you a clean, California-specific draft. To make it valid you copy the operative wording out by hand, then sign it. We strongly recommend you also date it, because Section 6111(b) allows an undated holographic will to be challenged if it conflicts with another will and the order cannot be established.

Because that is exactly what makes a holographic will valid under California law. Section 6111 requires that the material provisions and your signature be in your own handwriting. A printed or typed document that you only sign is not a valid holographic will in California and would need witnesses to qualify as a formal will. We give you the full text and a clear guide, so you simply transcribe the substantive parts (names, gifts, executor) in your own hand, sign, and date it.

California has no forced heirship, so you are generally free to decide who inherits. Two protections still apply. California is a community property state, so your surviving spouse already owns one half of the community property regardless of your will. Separately, the omitted spouse and omitted child rules (Probate Code Sections 21610 to 21612) protect a spouse you married, or a child born or adopted, after you signed the will: they may still take a share unless your will shows the omission was intentional. If you truly want to leave someone out, say so clearly in the will.

Keep the original signed handwritten document somewhere safe, such as a fireproof home safe or a bank safe deposit box, and make sure the person you name as executor knows where it is and can reach it. California has no statewide registry for holographic wills. If you work with an attorney, you can also ask them to keep the original for you. Do not staple, alter, or mark the original after you sign it.

We do not recommend a single joint document. A California holographic will must be in the testator's own handwriting, and one page written by two people creates confusion about whose words are whose and complicates changes later. The clean approach is two separate mirror wills, one written and signed entirely by each spouse, that reflect the same wishes. Our tool produces an individual draft for each of you so you can each write and sign your own.

Yes. You can revise your California will whenever your circumstances change, for example after a marriage, a divorce, a birth, or a move. The safest method is to write a fresh holographic will that revokes all previous wills, then copy it out by hand, sign it, and date it. Dating matters here: if two handwritten wills conflict and one is undated, Section 6111(b) can make the undated one invalid. Destroy the old original once the new one is signed.

No. This service helps you create a valid holographic will for straightforward situations, but it is not legal advice and does not replace an attorney. If your estate is large, you own a business, you have blended family issues, property in more than one state, minor children needing guardianship planning, or you expect a dispute, consult a California estate planning attorney. For many people with simple wishes, a properly handwritten, signed, and dated will is a solid starting point.