Pennsylvania Will Signing Requirements: Section 2502, Witnesses and the Self-Proving Affidavit

By Rozsa Gyene, California estate planning attorney, State Bar of California #208356. Published October 1, 2026. Last reviewed October 1, 2026.

This guide follows the wills chapter of Title 20 and the probate sections that govern how a will is proved. Each rule is quoted or closely paraphrased from the section cited, read on the General Assembly's statutes site on October 1, 2026. It sets out the Pennsylvania statute and is not advice about any one will.

Who may make a will (section 2501)

Any person 18 or more years of age who is of sound mind may make a will.

Form and execution (section 2502)

Every will shall be in writing and shall be signed by the testator at the end thereof. The section then states three rules.

• Words following the signature (2502(1)): the presence of any writing after the signature to a will, whether written before or after its execution, does not invalidate what precedes the signature.
• Signature by mark (2502(2)): if the testator is unable to sign his name for any reason, a will to which he makes his mark, and to which his name is subscribed before or after he makes the mark, is as valid as though he had signed his name, provided that he makes his mark in the presence of two witnesses who sign their names to the will in his presence.
• Signature by another (2502(3)): if the testator is unable to sign his name or make his mark for any reason, a will to which his name is subscribed in his presence and by his express direction is as valid as though he had signed it, provided that he declares the instrument to be his will in the presence of two witnesses who sign their names to it in his presence.

The section's amendment history on the statute page ends with Act 102 of 1994, which amended the introductory paragraph and paragraph (2). For a will the testator signs with his own name, section 2502 itself states no witness requirement; the two witness requirement for that kind of will comes from the manner of probate in section 3132, described below, which is why wills are signed before two witnesses in practice. A will is also validly executed if it complies with the law of the jurisdiction where the testator was domiciled when the will was executed or when he died (section 2504.1).

Nuncupative wills and the old witness section (sections 2503 and 2504)

Section 2503, nuncupative wills, and section 2504, witnesses, both appear on the General Assembly's site with the note that they were repealed December 10, 1974 by Act 293, effective immediately. The statute therefore no longer provides for an oral will, and the witness rules that remain are the ones in sections 2502, 3132 and 3132.1.

Proving the will at the Register of Wills (section 3132)

All wills shall be proved by the oaths or affirmations of two competent witnesses. Where the testator signed his name, proof by the subscribing witnesses, if there are any, is preferred to the extent they are readily available, and proof of the testator's signature is preferred to proof of a subscribing witness's signature (section 3132(1)). Where the will was signed by mark or by another on the testator's behalf, the proof must be by the subscribing witnesses, except to the extent the register is satisfied that such proof cannot be obtained with reasonable diligence, in which case other proof of execution, including proof of the subscribers' signatures, may be accepted, and proof of the signature of a witness who signed an attestation clause is prima facie proof that the facts recited in the clause are true (section 3132(2)). Paragraph (3), nuncupative wills, is marked repealed. The oath of a subscribing witness may be taken before any officer authorized to administer oaths in Pennsylvania or another state, unless the will's validity is contested or it was signed by mark or by another (section 3154(b)). The will is probated before the register of the county where the testator had his last family or principal residence (section 3131), and may be offered at any time, though a will offered more than one year after death is void against a bona fide grantee or lienholder of the testator's real estate who recorded first (section 3133).

The self-proving affidavit (section 3132.1)

An attested will may, at the time of its execution or at any later date, be made self-proved by the acknowledgment of the testator and the affidavits of the witnesses, each made before an officer authorized to administer oaths under the laws of Pennsylvania or of the state where execution occurs, or made before an attorney at law and certified to such an officer, and evidenced in either case by the officer's certificate under official seal attached or annexed to the will (section 3132.1(b)). A separate affidavit may be used for a witness whose affidavit is not taken at the same time as the testator's acknowledgment. The statute sets out the forms: the testator acknowledges that he signed and executed the instrument as his last will, willingly and as his free and voluntary act; the witnesses depose that they were present and saw the testator sign and execute the instrument as his last will, that he signed willingly, that each witness signed in the testator's hearing and sight, and that to the best of their knowledge the testator was at that time 18 or more years of age, of sound mind and under no constraint or undue influence. Unless there is a contest over the will's validity, or the will was signed by mark or by another, the register accepts an affidavit made in conformity with the section as proof of the facts stated as if it had been made under oath before the register at the time of probate (section 3132.1(a)). The acknowledgment and affidavit may instead be made before a member of the bar of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, or of the highest court of the state where the will is executed, who certifies to an officer authorized to administer oaths that they were made before him (section 3132.1(c)). The section's history ends with Act 182 of 1984.

Revoking, reviving and changing a will

A will or codicil, or any part of one, can be revoked or altered only by another will or codicil in writing; by another writing declaring the revocation, executed and proved in the manner required of wills; or by being burnt, torn, cancelled, obliterated or destroyed with the intent to revoke, by the testator or by another person in his presence and at his express direction, which direction must be proved by two competent witnesses (section 2505). Revoking a later will does not revive an earlier one unless the revocation is in writing and declares that intention or the earlier will is re-executed; oral republication is ineffective (section 2506). Section 2507 modifies a will by circumstances: a provision in favor of a spouse becomes ineffective if the testator is later divorced, or dies during divorce proceedings after grounds have been established, unless the will shows it was meant to survive a divorce; a spouse married after the will receives the intestate share unless the will gives more or was made in contemplation of the marriage; and a child born or adopted after the will, if not provided for, receives the share he would have taken had the testator died unmarried and intestate as to the property not passing to a spouse, unless the omission appears intentional.

How this compares with a living trust

A trust instrument is created when the settlor signs a writing that indicates an intention to create the trust and contains its provisions (section 7732(a)(2)); unlike a will, chapter 77 does not require a signature at the end, proof by two witnesses, or a self-proving affidavit, and a trust instrument other than a will may be signed by mark or by another in the same manner as a power of attorney (section 7732(b.1)). A Pennsylvania trust package still includes a pour-over will, signed as this guide describes, to carry anything left outside the trust into it. See the Pennsylvania living trust page for how the documents are signed.

2026 session law check

On October 1, 2026 the amendment histories under sections 2501, 2502, 2503, 2504, 2504.1, 2505, 2506, 2507, 3132, 3132.1, 3133 and 3154 were read on the General Assembly's statute pages; the latest act shown on any of them is Act 40 of 2024 under section 2507. The General Assembly's list of 2026 acts shows 51 acts on general legislation, none titled as amending Title 20, and its table of statutes affected by 2026 laws states that there is no chronological history for the year.