A will signed years ago can still miss the house, the retirement account, and the state you live in now. This page is general information for Pennsylvania and New Jersey. It is not legal advice. County practice differs.
What the review starts with
Before anyone rewrites a will, the planning questionnaire asks for these papers:
A missing paper does not cancel the meeting. The planning-meeting page covers what to bring and what can stay home. The notes below are what those papers usually show once they are on the table.
The will and the beneficiary form
Life insurance pays the person named on the policy. A retirement account pays the person named on the beneficiary form. A later will that leaves everything to a spouse does not, by itself, rewrite either form. A payable-on-death or transfer-on-death registration can send an account the same way, and so can a deed that already has a right of survivorship.
The questionnaire asks for the policy, the retirement statement, and the deed because those papers often disagree with the will. Families usually find the disagreement after the death, when the form has already paid. Confirm the form before you assume the will wins.
If you own a house in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey, read each deed on its own. Who takes title is a different question from the inheritance-tax bill. The tax pages are linked below. Rates are not repeated here.
Signed under the other state's rules
Pennsylvania and New Jersey do not use the same signing rules. A will that was fine where you signed it can still be the document to review after a move.
In Pennsylvania, 20 Pa.C.S. section 2502 says every will shall be in writing and shall be signed by the testator at the end. Writing after the signature does not invalidate what comes before the signature. If the person signs by mark, or cannot sign and someone else signs at their direction, two witnesses must sign in that person's presence.
Proving the will is a later step. 20 Pa.C.S. section 3132 says all wills shall be proved by the oaths or affirmations of two competent witnesses. If the will has subscribing witnesses and they are readily available, their proof is preferred. An unwitnessed Pennsylvania will can still be a will. It is harder to prove, because someone has to find two people who can speak to the signature.
New Jersey is stricter on an ordinary typed will. N.J.S.A. 3B:3-2 says that, except for a writing whose signature and material portions are in the testator's handwriting, a will shall be in writing, signed by the testator or by someone else in the testator's conscious presence and at the testator's direction, and signed by at least two people. Each of those people must sign within a reasonable time after witnessing the signing, or after witnessing the testator's acknowledgment of the signature or of the will.
A Pennsylvania will that was never witnessed is a review item if you now live in New Jersey. The reverse is also a review item. 20 Pa.C.S. section 2504.1 is a Pennsylvania rule. It says a will is validly executed if it complies with section 2502, or with the law of the place where the testator was domiciled when the will was signed or at death. It does not say what a New Jersey surrogate will accept. Bring both documents if you have them.
The original will, not a scan
If the only copy you have is a scan or a photo, say so at the meeting. Pennsylvania practice still wants the original will at the Register of Wills in the county of domicile. The first 90 days page covers that packet, the letters, and the short certificates. This is not a second checklist for the clerk's window.
If the signed original is in a safe deposit box, say that too. The Pennsylvania Department of Revenue brochure on inheritance tax and safe deposit boxes is the place to start on how a box is entered. Do not use this page as the entry instructions. New Jersey is a different system. Do not carry a Pennsylvania Register list across the river.
One executor and no alternate
Naming one executor and no alternate leaves a hole if that person has died, moved, or will not serve. The same hole shows up when the will names one beneficiary and nobody else. Who should not serve is worth one sentence in the file.
If the person you named cannot manage money, or is a minor, a name in the will does not decide how the money is held. If the worry is the person rather than the signature, start with the note on appointing the wrong executor.
Health care is a different document
A health care directive is a separate document from the will. A will operates at death. It does not authorize anyone to talk to a hospital while you are alive. Pennsylvania financial powers of attorney have their own signing rules, including a notice and an agent acknowledgment, on the power of attorney page. A hospital form stapled to the will is still a separate document.
Who gets the watch
Families argue about jewelry and furniture because the brokerage account has a form and the watch does not. A handwritten list of who should receive specific items is worth bringing to the meeting. It is not automatically part of the will. Do not assume a paperclip makes that list effective in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
When the will is old
Marriage, divorce, a death, a move between Pennsylvania and New Jersey, a new house, or a retirement-account rollover can leave a signed will describing a life that is gone. Whether a divorce strikes a name depends on the state and on the document. Ask at the meeting. Do not cross a name off an old will because an article said divorce handles it.
Online accounts belong on the same list. A password note in a drawer does not give an executor access by itself, and it is not a substitute for the will. Say which accounts exist. Access is part of the review.
What to do next
If you already have a will, the next step is the planning meeting with those papers, not a generic rewrite. If someone has died and you are holding the will, read the first 90 days page before you call the Register. Estate administration is the page for opening the estate. Estate planning is the page for a review while you are alive.
