Free Will Template for Texas: Example to Copy by Hand (2026)

· Published on

A handwritten will is one of the simplest legal documents you can make in Texas. If you write the whole thing out in your own hand and sign it, Texas law treats it as valid, with no lawyer, no notary, and no witnesses required.1 This kind of will is called a holographic will, and it is a genuine option for Texans who want a clear, legally recognized will without the cost and delay of a formal signing ceremony.

The catch is in the word "handwritten." A template only works here if you copy it out by hand. You cannot print this page, sign it, and call it done. Below you will find two clean sample wills, one for a single person and one for a married parent, written with Texas example names. Read them, then reproduce the one that fits your situation in your own handwriting.

What makes a handwritten will valid in Texas

Most Texas wills are typed and signed in front of two witnesses under Texas Estates Code Section 251.051. A holographic will is the exception. Section 251.052 says a will "written wholly in the testator's handwriting" does not need to be attested by witnesses at all.1 The Texas State Law Library confirms the same rule in plain terms: if the document is entirely in your own handwriting and signed, it is valid, and no witnesses are needed.2

Texas also does not require a date. A date is a good idea, because it shows which will is the most recent if you ever write more than one, but the will is valid without it.2 To make a will at all you must be at least 18 years old, or married, or serving in the U.S. armed forces, and you must be of sound mind.2

It must be in your own handwriting, start to finish. If you type or print any part that carries meaning, even a single word that the will needs to make sense, you can destroy its validity as a holographic will. Do not fill in a printed form and add handwriting around it. Copy the entire text out by hand.3

Free Texas will template: single person

Use this version if you are unmarried and want to leave everything to one or more people you name. Copy the full text below in your own handwriting, changing the names, city, and gifts to match your wishes.

Template: single person, everything to one heir

Last Will and Testament

I, Margaret Ann Ellis, of Harris County, Texas, being of sound mind and over the age of eighteen, declare this to be my last will and testament. I revoke all wills and codicils I have made before.

I give all of my property, both real and personal, to my sister, Ruth Ellis Monroe.

If Ruth Ellis Monroe does not survive me, I give all of my property to my brother, Thomas James Ellis.

I appoint my brother, Thomas James Ellis, as independent executor of my estate, to serve without bond.

Signed at Houston, Texas, this ______ day of ______________, 2026.

______________________________

Margaret Ann Ellis

Texas will template: married with children

Use this version if you are married and have children. There is an important Texas rule to understand first. Texas is a community property state, which means your spouse already owns one half of the community property you built during the marriage. Your will can only give away your own half of the community property plus any separate property you own on your own.4 Texas also has no forced heirship, so you are free to decide who receives your share and you may leave an adult child out if you choose.

Template: married with children

Last Will and Testament

I, James Robert Carter, of Dallas County, Texas, being of sound mind and over the age of eighteen, declare this to be my last will and testament. I revoke all wills and codicils I have made before.

I give my one-half interest in our community property and all of my separate property to my wife, Linda Marie Carter.

If my wife does not survive me by thirty days, I give all such property in equal shares to my children, Daniel Robert Carter and Emily Grace Carter.

I appoint my wife, Linda Marie Carter, as independent executor of my estate, to serve without bond. If she cannot serve, I appoint my son, Daniel Robert Carter, as independent executor without bond.

Signed at Austin, Texas, this ______ day of ______________, 2026.

______________________________

James Robert Carter

The signature rule

Your signature is what turns the handwritten text into a will, so do not skip it. Write the whole document by hand, read it over, and then sign your name at the end in your own hand.2 Signing at the bottom, after all the gifts, makes clear that everything above the signature is what you intended. There is no requirement that anyone watch you sign and no requirement to have it notarized.5

Optional: a self-proving affidavit

A holographic will can be made "self-proved" by attaching a sworn affidavit, signed before a notary, in which you state that the document is your will. This step is entirely optional under Texas Estates Code Section 251.101, and you can add it when you sign or at any later time before you die.5 Its only purpose is to make probate easier, because without it a court will need someone who knows your handwriting to confirm the will is really yours.2

Where to keep your handwritten will

Keep the original in a safe, findable place and tell the person you named as executor where it is. Texas also lets you deposit your will with the county clerk for safekeeping while you are alive, under Texas Estates Code Section 252.001.6 There is no statewide will registry in Texas, so a will nobody can find is as good as no will at all.

What happens if you never write one

If you die without a valid will, Texas decides who inherits under the intestacy rules in Chapter 201 of the Estates Code.7 If you are married and all of your children are also your spouse's, your spouse keeps the community property, but your separate property is split by a fixed statutory formula between your spouse and your children rather than going where you would have chosen.4 Writing your own will is how you keep that decision in your hands.

Want to understand the rules behind the template in more depth? Read our full guide to the Texas holographic will and our step-by-step walkthrough on how to write a will in Texas. When you are ready, you can also build a clean, personalized draft to copy by hand in a few minutes.

Sources

  1. 1Texas Estates Code Sec. 251.052, Exception for Holographic Wills (FindLaw) (codes.findlaw.com)
  2. 2Probating a Will, Texas State Law Library (guides.sll.texas.gov)
  3. 3How to write a valid holographic will, State Bar of Texas (texasbar.com)
  4. 4Intestate Succession in Texas (Nolo) (nolo.com)
  5. 5Self-Proving Wills in Texas (Texas Law Help) (texaslawhelp.org)
  6. 6Texas Estates Code Sec. 252.001, Deposit of Will With Clerk (texas.public.law)
  7. 7Texas Estates Code Chapter 201, Descent and Distribution (statutes.capitol.texas.gov)
Max Kuch

About the author

Max Kuch

Max Kuch writes about estate planning, wills and inheritance for Texas Will Template. He gathers the rules from the Texas statutes and the leading public data, then explains them in plain, accessible language so anyone can put their wishes in writing.

Your personal draft will in 15 minutes

Answer a few simple questions and get a draft tailored to your situation, instantly as PDF, Word and OpenOffice.

Create your will now

Personalized · Legally sound · Download instantly

Frequently asked questions

Yes, provided you finish it the right way. Under Tex. Est. Code Sec. 251.051 and 251.052, a holographic will is valid when it is written wholly in your own handwriting and signed by you. No witnesses are required and no date is required. What we hand you is a clean, correctly structured draft. It becomes a legally valid holographic will the moment you copy the whole thing out by hand on paper and sign it yourself.

Because Texas recognizes two separate paths, and printing points you toward the harder one. A typed or printed will has to be signed in front of two credible witnesses to be valid. A holographic will skips the witnesses entirely, but only if it is written completely in your own handwriting. If you print our draft and sign it alone, it is neither a valid witnessed will nor a valid holographic will. Copying the full text by hand is what makes the witness-free route work, so the handwriting is not a formality, it is the whole point.

Texas gives you unusually wide freedom here. There is no forced heirship and no elective share, so you are not required to leave a fixed portion to your spouse or to your children, and you can disinherit an adult child if you choose. One thing you cannot give away, though, is property that is not fully yours. Texas is a community property state, which means your surviving spouse already owns one half of everything the two of you acquired during the marriage. Your will can only dispose of your own half of the community property plus your separate property, so name what is genuinely yours to give.

Keep the signed original somewhere safe and dry, and make sure the person you named as executor knows exactly where it is, because a copy is far weaker than the original if the will ever has to be probated. If you want extra security, the clerk of the county where you live can hold your will for safekeeping during your lifetime under Tex. Est. Code Sec. 252.001, whether you are in Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio or anywhere else in the state. Texas has no statewide will registry, so there is no central database to file it in.

We strongly recommend against a single shared document. A holographic will has to be wholly in one person's handwriting, so two people physically cannot create one valid handwritten will together. Beyond that, joint wills tend to lock the survivor into terms that are painful to change after the first death. The clean solution is two separate mirror wills, one in each spouse's own handwriting, each signed by that spouse. You can make them say almost the same thing while keeping each one independently valid and freely revocable.

Yes, and it is easy. A Texas will has no expiration, but life does not stand still, so revisit it after a marriage, a divorce, a birth, a death or a move. The safest way to make a change is to handwrite and sign a brand new holographic will that revokes all previous wills, then destroy the old signed original so no stale version can surface later. Avoid scribbling edits in the margins of a finished will, since alterations can raise doubt about what you actually intended.

No, and we do not pretend it does. This service gives you a solid, well-organized draft for a straightforward estate, which covers a great many Texas families perfectly well. But if your situation is complex, for example a blended family, a business, property in more than one state, a beneficiary with special needs or a plan that involves a trust, you should have a Texas estate attorney review it. Think of this as a strong, affordable starting point, not as legal advice.

Built for Texas

Structured around Texas Estates Code rules for holographic wills

Private and secure

SSL encrypted, your data stays private

Real support

Questions answered by a real person, not a bot

Up to date

Current Texas law