---
title: O.C.G.A. § 53-4-20. Required writing; signing; witnesses; codicil.
collection: code
id: 53-4-20
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 53-4-20 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/53-4-20
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/53-4-20.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/53-4-20/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t52-t53-(v40)-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=5e4f6f40_0#page=54
date: 2025
status: active
corpus_version: 2025-supplement-89aa39ab3c68
license: CC0-1.0
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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index: https://georgiacommons.org/code/index.md
version: the only printed version
in_force: true
current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: WILLS, TRUSTS, AND ADMINISTRATION OF ESTATES / WILLS / EXECUTION AND ATTESTATION
---

# O.C.G.A. § 53-4-20. Required writing; signing; witnesses; codicil.

(a) A will shall be in writing and shall be signed by the testator or by some other individual in the testator’s presence and at the testator’s express direction. A testator may sign by mark or by any name that is intended to authenticate the instrument as the testator’s will.

(b) A will shall be attested and subscribed in the presence of the testator by two or more competent witnesses. A witness to a will may attest by mark. Another individual may not subscribe the name of a witness, even in that witness’s presence and at that witness’s direction.

(c) A codicil shall be executed by the testator and attested and subscribed by witnesses with the same formality as a will.

(d) A will or codicil that was executed or attested pursuant to the authority of the Governor’s Executive Order 04.09.20.01 shall not be treated as invalid solely because it was not executed or attested in the testator’s physical presence.

## History

Code 1981, § 53-4-20, enacted by Ga. L. 1996, p. 504, § 10; Ga. L. 2025, p. 806, § 51/HB 327, effective July 1, 2025.

## Amendments

The 2025 amendment, effective July 1, 2025, added subsection (d).