Who can witness and sign a will?

In order for the will to be valid, your witness must:

• Be aged 18 and over in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (or 16 and over in Scotland)
• Be someone with the mental capacity to understand that they are witnessing the signing of a legal document
• Be someone who is ideally independent of the will, meaning they should not be beneficiaries of the will or spouses/civil partners of beneficiaries.

Specific requirements based on location

• England and Wales:  You will need two independent witnesses
• Scotland: Only one independent adult witness is required, and they should sign the bottom of each page along with the person making the will (granter).

An executor can witness a will in the UK, but only if they are not also a beneficiary (or the spouse/civil partner of a beneficiary). It's generally advised to have independent witnesses, meaning individuals who are not named in the will or related to those who are.

Yes, the person making the will can instruct someone else, such as a solicitor, to sign a will on their behalf. Once the document is signed, the will itself does not need to be approved or registered by a solicitor.

You might be able to store your will in a solicitor's office if you'd rather not keep it at home.

Yes, a stranger can be a witness to a will, but this is normally inadvisable. This is because the witness could in theory be called upon to testify that the will was executed correctly. Ideally, the witness should be easy to locate and a reliable person.

If a witness or witnesses to a will pass away, the will remains valid. However, it's possible that during the probate process, the executor would be required to submit proof that the signature is valid. For this reason, if a witness had died, some people choose to write a new will or amend their existing one, known as a codicil.

If a will isn't properly witnessed, it could be declared invalid by a court. This would mean that an earlier will would be considered the valid document, or if there is no previous will, the rules of intestacy would apply.

In theory, anyone can contest a will, and a court would ultimately rule whether there was valid grounds for challenging the will.

• Beneficiaries of the will or their spouses/civil partners. This is to avoid conflicts of interest or undue influence. If a beneficiary does act as a witness, their gift may be void.
• Minors (under 18 years old in England, Wales and Northern Ireland or under 16 years old in Scotland).
• Individuals not physically present. The witness must see the person making the will (testator) sign it in real time. In other words, be in the same room as them when they sign the will.
• Individuals who are blind or partially sighted (as they must see the signature take place).

Witnessing a will isn’t simply a legal obligation. For a will to be valid it must be signed by the testator and their signature must be made or acknowledged in the presence of two witnesses. The witness must be present at the same time and must also attest and sign the will. 

In Scotland, a will needs to be signed by the granter (the individual creating the will) at the bottom of each page. The granters signature should also be witnessed by one independent adult witness. Which in this case means anyone over the age of 16 can witness a signature.