Can a witness to a will be a beneficiary?

Experts recommend that beneficiaries not serve as witnesses to wills, but some states allow them to do so in the absence of an alternative witness, according to Nolo. Beneficiaries to a will should not serve as witnesses because the legal system wants to prevent beneficiaries from coercing willmakers into favoring them.

Most states require two or three witnesses to sign a will when it is created to make it legal. Witnesses must be sufficiently competent to testify in court if any part of the will is contested by another party, according to Lawyers.com. Additionally, the law requires witnesses to sign these legal documents in the presence of the person who created them.