Informal and DIY wills
Updated 20 August 2026 · 6 minute read
A will is supposed to be signed before two witnesses present at the same time. Plenty aren't — will-kits done wrong, documents signed with one witness, a typed letter of wishes, even unsent text messages. Australian courts can still admit these as informal wills — if the evidence clears a high bar.
The test
Every state lets the Supreme Court dispense with the formal requirements where it's satisfied of three things:
There's a document
Broadly read — paper, computer file, video, voicemail have all qualified.
It states testamentary intentions
It says who gets what, in substance.
The person intended THAT document to be their will
Not a draft, not musings — their actual operative will. This is where most applications fail.
Australian courts have admitted an unsent text message, a DVD labelled 'my will', and computer documents — and refused plenty of signed-but-unfinished will-kit forms that looked more official. Intention, not appearance, decides.
What an executor should do with a dodgy document
- Don't destroy or 'tidy' anything — condition and location are evidence
- Gather the context: who typed it, when, what the deceased said about it
- Identify everyone who'd inherit if it fails (the intestacy beneficiaries) — their position shapes the fight
- Get advice before filing anything — informal-will applications are evidence-heavy and requisition-prone
The cost of informality
Even successful informal-will applications add weeks to months and thousands in costs against a routine grant — affidavits from witnesses, family, sometimes forensic evidence. It's the strongest advertisement that a properly executed $200 will is the cheapest legal document a person ever signs.
Holding a document that might be a will?
Fixed-fee firms will assess it quickly — sometimes the answer is simple and cheap.
Get fixed-fee probate quotesOne witness instead of two — fatal?
No — that's a classic informal will scenario, and among the easiest to get admitted where nothing else is suspicious.
Alterations scribbled on an old will?
Handwritten changes after execution generally aren't effective unless separately executed — but may qualify as an informal codicil. Evidence again.
What if the informal will is refused?
The prior valid will governs; if none, intestacy.
Sources
- Succession legislation dispensing powers — all states
- Reported informal-will decisions (text message and DVD cases)