Can You Disinherit a Spouse or Child in Pennsylvania? (2026)

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One of the most common questions people ask when writing a will is whether they can legally leave someone out. Maybe an adult child you are estranged from, or a spouse in a marriage that ended long ago in everything but paperwork. The short answer in Pennsylvania is: mostly yes, but with one important exception you cannot get around. This guide explains exactly who you can disinherit under Pennsylvania law, who you cannot, and how to word your will so your wishes actually hold up.

This is general information about Pennsylvania law, not legal advice for your specific situation. If your estate is large or your family situation is contentious, talk to a Pennsylvania estate attorney.

Pennsylvania Has No Forced Heirship

Some countries require you to leave a fixed portion of your estate to your children no matter what. Pennsylvania does not. There is no rule of "forced heirship" here, which means you are generally free to decide who receives your property and who does not.1

Your will controls, as long as it is validly made. Under 20 Pa.C.S. Section 2502, a Pennsylvania will must be in writing and signed by the testator at the end. A wholly handwritten (holographic) will is fully recognized in Pennsylvania, and no witnesses are required at the moment of signing for the will to be valid.2 The signature at the end is the single most important formality to get right, because anything written after your signature is generally disregarded and does not invalidate what comes before it.3

Can You Disinherit a Child?

Yes. Adult children have no automatic right to inherit from a parent in Pennsylvania. If you want to leave a child nothing, you can, and you do not have to explain why.

The key is to be explicit. Do not simply omit the child and hope silence does the job. Name the person and state clearly that the omission is intentional, so there is no argument later that you simply forgot them.

Sample disinheritance clause:

I have intentionally made no provision in this Will for my son, John A. Smith, and for any descendant of his. This omission is intentional and not the result of accident, mistake, or oversight.

The one situation where a child can still take a share

Pennsylvania protects a child who is born or adopted after you sign your will. Under 20 Pa.C.S. Section 2507, if you fail to provide for a child born or adopted after the will was made, and it does not appear from the will that the omission was intentional, that child can claim the share they would have received had you died without a will (limited to the portion of your estate not passing to a surviving spouse).4 The fix is simple: if you later have or adopt a child you want excluded, update your will and say so, or include language covering "any child born or adopted after the date of this Will."

Can You Disinherit a Spouse? The Real Limit

This is where Pennsylvania draws a hard line. You can write your spouse out of your will, but you cannot actually stop them from claiming a share of your estate.

The one limit you cannot override: the spousal elective share. Under 20 Pa.C.S. Section 2203, a surviving spouse in Pennsylvania has the right to elect to take one third of certain property, regardless of what your will says. Even if your will leaves your spouse nothing, they can go to court within the statutory deadline and claim their elective one third.5

The elective share reaches more than just the property named in your will. It can extend to certain assets you transferred during the marriage where you kept control, such as property you could revoke or from which you kept the income. Some assets are excluded, including life insurance proceeds and certain retirement and pension interests.5 The elective share is a right the spouse must actively claim; it does not happen automatically, and it can be waived.

How a spouse can lose or give up the elective share

A spouse can waive the elective share, most commonly through a valid prenuptial or postnuptial agreement. Certain conduct can also forfeit spousal rights under Pennsylvania law, such as willful and malicious desertion of the deceased spouse for more than one year before death. If you and your spouse have genuinely agreed to separate finances, a signed waiver is the clean, reliable way to make disinheritance stick.

Marrying after your will is signed

Section 2507 also covers a spouse you married after signing your will. If you married after making the will and did not provide for the new spouse, that spouse generally receives the share they would have received had you died without a will, unless the will was made in contemplation of that marriage.4 So if you marry, revisit your will.

A Note on Community Property

Pennsylvania is not a community property state. Your assets are not automatically split in half with your spouse simply because you are married. What governs a spouse's claim against your estate is the elective share described above, not community property rules.1

What Happens If You Leave No Will At All

Disinheriting someone requires a valid will. If you die without one, Pennsylvania's intestacy statute decides everything, and it favors your closest relatives. Under 20 Pa.C.S. Section 2102, a surviving spouse typically takes the first $30,000 plus one half of the balance where all your children are also children of that spouse, with different fractions in other family situations.6 In other words, the people you might have wanted to exclude could inherit by default. To learn how that plays out, see our guide on dying without a will in Pennsylvania.

Making Your Wishes Stick

To disinherit effectively in Pennsylvania: name the person you are excluding and state the omission is intentional, cover any child born or adopted after the will's date, handle a spouse through a signed waiver rather than silence, and above all sign at the very end of the document so nothing you intended gets disregarded. After death, the will is filed with the county Register of Wills in the county where you lived, whether that is Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, or Harrisburg; Pennsylvania has no statewide lifetime registry, so keep your original somewhere your executor can find it.

You can create a clear, valid Pennsylvania will, including precise disinheritance language, using our Pennsylvania will builder. It walks you through the wording step by step so your intentions are unmistakable.

Sources

  1. 1Nolo: Intestate Succession in Pennsylvania (nolo.com)
  2. 220 Pa.C.S. Section 2502, Form and signature of will (FindLaw) (codes.findlaw.com)
  3. 320 Pa.C.S. Section 2502 (Pennsylvania General Assembly) (legis.state.pa.us)
  4. 420 Pa.C.S. Section 2507, Modification by circumstances (legis.state.pa.us)
  5. 520 Pa.C.S. Section 2203, Right of election; resident decedent (Justia) (law.justia.com)
  6. 620 Pa.C.S. Section 2102, Share of surviving spouse (legis.state.pa.us)
Max Kuch

About the author

Max Kuch

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

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Frequently asked questions

The draft itself is a template, not yet a valid will. Under 20 Pa.C.S. Sec. 2502, Pennsylvania recognizes a wholly handwritten (holographic) will. To make it valid you must copy the finished text out entirely in your own handwriting and sign it at the end. Once you do that in your own hand and sign at the end, it meets Pennsylvania's requirements. A printout that you only sign is weaker, so the safe path is to write the whole thing by hand yourself.

Pennsylvania gives full effect to a holographic will, meaning a will written and signed entirely in the testator's own hand. No witnesses are required for the will to be valid. Copying it out by hand is what turns our template into a will the law recognizes. Your own handwriting is also strong evidence that the document is genuinely yours, which helps when it is presented to the Register of Wills. Take your time, write clearly, and sign at the end.

Pennsylvania has no forced heirship, so you are free to leave children out and direct your property as you choose. A spouse is treated differently. Under 20 Pa.C.S. Sec. 2203, a surviving spouse who is disinherited can file an elective share and claim one third of certain estate property, and that right stands even if your will says otherwise. So you can write a spouse out on paper, but the law still lets that spouse elect to take one third. If your family situation is delicate, state your intentions clearly and consider legal advice.

Keep the signed original somewhere safe and dry, such as a home fireproof box or a bank safe deposit box, and make sure your executor knows exactly where it is. Pennsylvania has no statewide lifetime registry where you file a will while you are alive. After your death, the original is taken to the Register of Wills in the county where you lived so it can be probated. Because the original is what gets filed, protecting it and telling your executor is the most important step.

We recommend against a single shared document. A holographic will in Pennsylvania must be entirely in one person's handwriting and signed at the end by that person, so two people cannot both handwrite and sign the same will. The clean approach is two separate mirror wills, one written and signed by each spouse, that reflect the same plan. Each of you copies out and signs your own, and each stays valid and changeable on its own.

Yes. A will only takes effect at death, so you can revise it at any time while you are alive and of sound mind. The simplest way is to handwrite a fresh will, sign it at the end, and physically destroy the old one so there is no confusion about which is current. Avoid squeezing changes in below your signature, because anything written after the end signature in Pennsylvania is generally not given effect. Review your will after major life events like a marriage, divorce, birth, or a large purchase.

No. This service helps you produce a clear, well structured draft to copy out by hand, but it is not legal advice and does not replace an attorney. If your estate is large, you own a business, you have blended family issues, property in more than one state, or you expect disputes, have a Pennsylvania attorney review your plan. For a straightforward estate, a carefully handwritten will signed at the end can serve you well.

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