Who Can Witness a Will in Victoria? (2026 Guide)

Creating a Victorian Will takes only a few steps, and witnessing is the one people most often get wrong. Online Wills Victoria covers the whole state-specific process — the questions, printing and signing — from start to finish. For how online Wills sit within Australian law generally, see is an online Will legal in Australia?.

A valid Victorian Will depends as much on how it is signed and witnessed as on what it says. Those formalities live in the Wills Act 1997 (Vic). Victoria is more forgiving than some states on who can witness — it scrapped the old rule that cancelled a witness’s gift — but the core signing formalities still matter, and getting them wrong can push an estate into a court application or intestacy. This guide covers who can and can’t witness a Will in Victoria, the interested-witness rule most people get wrong, Victoria’s remote (video) witnessing procedure, and how the state lines up against the rest of Australia.

Legal requirements for witnessing a Will in Victoria

Under section 7 of the Wills Act 1997 (Vic), a Will is not valid unless:

• It is in writing, and signed by the will-maker (or by someone else in the will-maker’s presence and at their direction).
• The signature is made with the will-maker’s intention of executing a Will (it does not have to be at the foot of the document).
• The signature is made or acknowledged by the will-maker in the presence of two or more witnesses present at the same time.
• At least two of those witnesses attest and sign the Will in the presence of the will-maker (but not necessarily in the presence of each other).

One Victorian quirk is worth knowing: under section 8, the witnesses do not need to know that the document they are signing is a Will. That does not change the safe approach — get everyone in the one room and do all the signing together.

A small slip — the witnesses not together at the moment you sign, or a witness who could not actually see you sign — can be enough to tip an estate into a dispute or intestacy.

For the full Victorian checklist (capacity, writing, execution), see How to Make a Will in Victoria.

Who can be a witness?

A witness in Victoria should:

• Be an adult (18+). The Act does not fix a minimum age for witnesses, but minors create evidentiary risk, so using adults is standard practice.
• Have the mental capacity to understand they are witnessing a signing.
• Be able to see the signing occur — under section 10 of the Wills Act 1997 (Vic), a person who is unable to see and attest that the will-maker has signed the document cannot act as a witness.
• Be present at the same time as the will-maker (and the other witness) when the will-maker signs.

In practice that usually means a neighbour, a work colleague or a friend who can be in the room when you sign.

Can a beneficiary witness a Will in Victoria?

This is where Victoria differs from most people’s expectations — and from its neighbours. In many states, a beneficiary who witnesses the Will loses their gift. Victoria abolished that rule. Under section 11 of the Wills Act 1997 (Vic), a person who witnesses a Will, or their spouse or domestic partner at the time the Will is witnessed, is not disqualified from taking a benefit under it. So in Victoria a beneficiary-witness’s gift is not automatically void.

That puts Victoria alongside Western Australia, and apart from New South Wales and Queensland, where a gift to an interested witness can be void unless a statutory exception applies.

Legally allowed is not the same as wise, though. A beneficiary who helped witness the Will is exactly the fact pattern that fuels a challenge — an allegation of undue influence, or that the will-maker did not fully know and approve of the gift. The cleanest way to keep a gift beyond argument is simple: choose two witnesses who take nothing under the Will.

Witnessing a Will by video call in Victoria

Victoria is one of the states that kept remote witnessing permanently after the pandemic. The remote execution procedure in section 8A of the Wills Act 1997 (Vic) lets a Will be signed and witnessed over an audio-visual link (for example a video call), rather than everyone being in the same room. It is genuinely useful — but it is strict, and easy to get wrong:

• One witness must be a “special witness” — an Australian legal practitioner or a justice of the peace — and that special witness must be the last person to sign.
• Everyone must clearly see the signature being made. It is not enough to see a face on screen or the finished document; the witnesses must actually see the will-maker apply the signature.
• It must all happen on the same day, with a statement added to the Will confirming the remote procedure was followed.

The Victorian Supreme Court showed how unforgiving this is in Re Curtis [2022] VSC 621, where a Will signed over Zoom failed because the witnesses could not clearly see the will-maker actually signing (the call was in “active speaker” view). The remote procedure is a real option if you genuinely can’t sign in person — but for most people, signing in front of two witnesses in the same room is far simpler and safer.

Who should not be a witness?

In Victoria you should avoid as witnesses:

• Anyone who cannot see you sign — under section 10, a person unable to see and attest that you have signed cannot act as a witness
• A beneficiary named in the Will — legally permitted in Victoria, but it invites undue-influence and knowledge-and-approval arguments, so best avoided
• The spouse or partner of a beneficiary — for the same practical reason
• A minor — the Act doesn’t ban it outright, but it creates needless evidentiary risk

Choosing impartial witnesses lowers the odds of a family dispute and makes probate smoother — the same standard Victorian solicitors and the Supreme Court expect.

For more signing pitfalls, see common mistakes when making a Will and our national guide how to sign and witness your Will correctly. To see how Victoria compares with every other state and territory, use our state-by-state witness comparison table.

Do witnesses need to read the Will?

No. Witnesses do not need to read the Will, and they do not need to understand who gets what. Their role is to confirm that the will-maker appeared to sign the document freely and voluntarily — not to judge the fairness of the gifts. Section 8 of the Wills Act 1997 (Vic) makes clear a witness need not even know the document is a Will.

How Victoria compares to the rest of Australia

Every state and territory needs the same basics — two witnesses, present at the same time, who watch you sign. Where they split is what happens if one of those witnesses is also a beneficiary. Victoria is in the group that has abolished the old “interested witness” forfeiture rule, so a beneficiary-witness keeps their gift. In the other group, that gift is void unless a statutory exception applies.

So Victoria sits with WA, SA and the ACT (a beneficiary-witness’s gift is safe), while NSW, QLD, TAS and NT still void it unless an exception is met. Either way the safe move is identical everywhere: use two independent witnesses. For the fuller picture — including how each state treats executors and the spouses of beneficiaries as witnesses — see our state-by-state witness comparison.

State Trustees Victoria Wills follow the same rules

Some Victorians use State Trustees Victoria to prepare a Will. It is a genuine option — but the witnessing rules do not change. A State Trustees Will, a solicitor-drafted Will and an online Will all have to be printed and signed in front of two witnesses under section 7. State Trustees typically charges for its Will and estate services, and is often appointed as executor, which can mean fees on your estate down the track. For how that trade-off stacks up against doing it yourself online, see public trustee vs online Will.

What happens if witnessing is done incorrectly?

Get the formalities wrong and the fallout lands on your family, not you:

• The Will can be invalid, forcing someone to ask the Supreme Court of Victoria to accept it as an informal Will under section 9 of the Wills Act 1997 (Vic) — which the court will only do if satisfied you intended the document to be your Will.
• If that fails, your estate is divided under Victoria’s intestacy rules in the Administration and Probate Act 1958 (Vic) rather than by your Will.
• Either path can add months, legal fees, and a result nothing like what you wanted.

The dispensing power in section 9 is a safety net, not a strategy — it is slow, uncertain and expensive.

Practical tips to get it right

• Line up two adult witnesses who take nothing under the Will — and aren’t the partner of anyone who does.
• Sign in a single sitting with both witnesses watching, then have each of them sign while you are still there.
• Check that each witness has a clear, unobstructed view of your signature.
• Sign consistently, and follow any signing instructions printed on the document.
• Never change a signed Will by writing on it — make a fresh Will, or a properly witnessed codicil, instead.

Will Hero provides Victoria-specific signing and witnessing instructions when you create your Will for Victoria.

How this fits into making a Will in Victoria

Witnessing is one part of a legally valid Will in Victoria. For the full picture:

• Online Wills Victoria — hub for creating a Victorian Will online, requirements, and next steps
• How to Make a Will in Victoria — detailed guide under the Wills Act 1997 (Vic)
• Online Wills Melbourne — if you are specifically in the Melbourne metro area

You may also want how to sign and witness your Will correctly (national), common mistakes when making a Will, and what happens if you die without a Will in Victoria — including when a document may not be treated as a valid Will.

Ready to make your Will the safe way? Start with Will Hero for Victoria—state-specific questions, clear witnessing guidance, professional review, and pricing from $99. See how Will Hero works for the path from your answers to a document ready to print and sign.