Witnesses have a very important role in Will executions. It’s their job to verify that the Testator executed his will and had testamentary capacity and intent to do so.
In order for a non-holographic Will to be valid, Texas requires that it be signed by two or more witnesses. The statute requires that the witnesses be over the age of 14, although I typically recommend that the witnesses be over the age of 18 years of age. The statute also requires that the witnesses be credible, which implies that they would be competent to testify about the facts of the Will’s execution.
Witnesses should be disinterested, which means that they should stand to gain nothing from the Will. Testamentary gifts to a beneficiary who is also a witness is presumed void, with a few exceptions.
