Is a Holographic Will Valid in Florida?

Some states allow handwritten (or “holographic”) wills, but Florida law surrounding handwritten wills isn’t completely straightforward. If you’re creating a will in the state of Florida, you should make sure it meets all legal requirements. Here’s what you need to know about whether holographic wills are legal in Florida.

A holographic will is a will written in the testator’s handwriting. (The “testator” is the person whose estate the will concerns.) It’s signed by the testator alone without witnesses.

This might sound like an oddly informal way to create a last will and testament, but holographic wills can be useful in some situations.

For instance, if someone doesn’t have a will and finds themselves unexpectedly on their deathbed, they might create a holographic will. Similarly, some states don’t recognize holographic wills but will make exceptions for those written by military personnel deployed overseas. But are holographic wills legal in Florida?

Florida doesn’t generally recognize holographic wills, or those created by the testator without any witnesses. But is a handwritten will legal in Florida under any circumstances? The answer is yes; however, in order to be recognized during the probate process, a handwritten will (like any other kind of will) must meet the legal requirements of the state of Florida. They include the following:

Notably, holographic wills aren’t the only type of will that Florida doesn’t recognize. Oral wills (also known as “nuncupative wills”) aren’t recognized in the state, either.

You can’t create a holographic will in Florida and have it recognized in probate court. However, you can create a handwritten will that’s legally enforceable. Should you, though? Before you decide, it’s important to consider some of the potential drawbacks and challenges that come with handwritten wills.

Witness signatures can make a handwritten will legally valid, but there’s a catch: if the document wasn’t notarized, the two people who signed the handwritten will (and watched you sign it) must be physically present during the probate process to confirm that the signature on the will is yours.

This can be logistically complicated for obvious reasons. If the court can’t locate the witnesses, the probate process could be derailed.

The easiest way to avoid this pitfall is to create a self-proving affidavit, which is a statement by both the testator and the witnesses that the will is authentic. Because the statement is notarized, the witnesses don’t have to physically appear in court to verify the testator’s signature.

Not all of your assets will have to go through probate. However, unless you’re an estate planning lawyer, you likely won’t know which assets you need to list on your will and which ones you can omit.

Often (though not always), people create handwritten wills because they believe there’s an urgent need to do so.

For a will to be admissible in probate court, the testator must be of sound mind. This can be a somewhat subjective determination. It could be argued that if you wrote a will very close to your actual time of death, you may not have been of sound mind when you created it.

A beneficiary could also challenge the will if they believe someone exerted undue influence on you. And if you created the will quickly, the court might suspect you were pressured into doing so. From an interpretive standpoint, if your handwriting isn’t particularly neat, it may be difficult for a court to understand what you’ve written.

For many people, estate planning can be emotionally challenging. However, when you take the time to consult an estate planning attorney, you and your loved ones can both discover an entirely new peace of mind.

If you want to make a change to a handwritten will after you and your two witnesses have signed it, you can’t just cross out what’s written or add new details. If you make changes without following proper procedure, a probate court will disregard them.

If you need to make a few minor adjustments, you can do so using something called a “codicil.” This involves filling out a special document in the presence of two witnesses; you and the witnesses must sign it in the presence of one another. In some cases, you might also need to get the codicil notarized.

It’s important to note that while a codicil can be useful for making minor changes to a handwritten will, it’s not appropriate for major modifications. If you need to make a sizable change to your handwritten will, the best course of action is to simply create a new will.

Writing another will by hand can be time-consuming, but it can greatly reduce the risk of running into problems in probate.

Holographic wills aren’t legal in Florida, and as you’ve seen, handwritten (but witnessed) wills come with many challenges of their own. If you want to keep your loved ones from running into probate roadblocks when they’re already grieving, consider working with a lawyer to create a legally valid will.

There are many advantages to working with a qualified estate planning attorney. Among other things, your lawyer can:

Many people hesitate to work with a lawyer because they mistakenly believe that hiring an attorney to draft a will is prohibitively expensive. In most cases, however, creating a will with an attorney’s help is surprisingly affordable.

When you schedule a free consultation with our law firm, we can discuss your situation and give you an idea of how much the process may cost — and what it could cost you to go it alone.

Having a will can take pressure off your family members and other loved ones immediately after your death. However, if the will isn’t recognized by the Florida probate court, all the effort you put into creating it will be for nothing.

When you work with the right estate planning attorneys, you can rest assured that your preferences will be respected and your assets will be distributed according to your wishes.

At William C. Roof Law Group, we’re dedicated to helping residents of Orlando and the greater central Florida area plan for the future. If you want to create a will or need assistance with any other estate planning matter, call us today to schedule a free consultation.

The contents of this article are not comprehensive, they provide only a general overview of the subject matter discussed. This article does not establish a client-attorney relationship with the reader, and no legal decisions should be made based on the article’s contents. Because every legal matter arises under unique facts specific to the client, no legal decision should be made without consulting a licensed attorney.