Legal10 min read
How to Make a Hong Kong Will: 平安紙, Cap. 30 and Two Witnesses
A Hong Kong will, or 平安紙, is valid when your parent signs a written document in front of two witnesses who are both present at the same time, and each witness then signs or acknowledges their signature. That is the whole formal test in section 5 of the Wills Ordinance (Cap. 30), and no part of it requires a solicitor or a government office.
By Legaris ·
What a will does, and the one thing it cannot do
Section 3 of the Wills Ordinance (Cap. 30) allows a person to dispose of all property by will, and section 19 provides that a will speaks from the death of the testator: it deals with what they own then, not what they owned on the day they signed. That is why a will made years ago still covers a flat bought later, without a fresh signature.
What a will cannot do is avoid probate. The will decides who benefits; a grant from the Probate Registry is what lets anyone actually deal with the assets. That is a separate, court-side step, and no wording in a will removes it.
平安紙 and 遺囑 are the same document
平安紙 is the Cantonese name families use; 遺囑 is the word in the Ordinance. There is no separate “peace paper” in Hong Kong law, no special form reserved for it, and no difference in legal effect. A document headed 平安紙 and a document headed 遺囑 are judged by exactly the same section 5 test.
The confusion costs families time, because it sends them looking for a government form that does not exist. What matters is not the heading on the page but the signature, the two witnesses and the intention behind them.
民政事務處平安紙: is there a free will service in Hong Kong?
民政事務處 is the district office most families are told to visit, and the Home Affairs Department answers the question on its own published FAQ: the department does not provide will-making services. Home Affairs Enquiry Centres administer statutory declarations and oaths for private use, free of charge, and the department states plainly that a statutory declaration or oath is not equivalent to a will.
The reason is the two ordinances its answer names. A statutory declaration is governed by the Oaths and Declarations Ordinance (Cap. 11) and may be made before a Commissioner for Oaths, while a will is governed by the Wills Ordinance (Cap. 30) and must meet section 5(1), which includes the testator signing in the presence of two or more witnesses present at the same time. A declaration signed at an enquiry centre counter therefore does not create a will, and no stamp, seal or certificate converts it into one.
What does exist free of charge is advice, not drafting. The Free Legal Advice Scheme, run by the Duty Lawyer Service, gives preliminary one-off advice on a genuine legal problem, with no means test and no charge. It does not draft a will, does not review one, and offers no follow-up and no representation; its referral agencies include the Home Affairs Enquiry Centres, and each of its nine Legal Advice Centres sits in a district office.
That leaves section 5, which costs nothing to satisfy. A 免費平安紙服務 that collects the form and returns a signed copy later has not met section 5, however it is advertised, and neither has a declaration signed at a counter: the witnesses have to be there when your parent signs, in the same room, at the same time.
After a death the department’s role changes, and this is the part families confuse with will-making. Its Estate Beneficiaries Support Unit issues the Confirmation Notice for estates of $50,000 or less held wholly as money, and the certificate that allows a bank deposit box to be inspected, under Part VA of Cap. 10. Those are estate routes that follow a death, not a way to make a will before one. What a bank can release after a death sets them out.
Section 5: the four conditions
Section 5(1) sets out four conditions and every one of them has to be true. No form of attestation is required — the subsection says so expressly — but an attestation clause is still what proves, years later, that the rest happened.
| Condition | What it means | How it fails |
|---|---|---|
| It is in writing | Typed, printed or handwritten, and permanent | An instruction given aloud, or a note that exists only on a phone nobody can open |
| Signed by the testator, or by someone in their presence and by their direction | Your parent signs, or directs another person to sign while they watch | A signature added later, by someone else, with your parent absent |
| It appears the signature was intended to give effect to the will | The signature sits at the end of the dispositions, not on a blank sheet or an envelope | A signature on a covering page, or on a document with nothing above it |
| Made or acknowledged in front of two or more witnesses present at the same time | One sitting, one room, both witnesses there from start to finish | Two neighbours signing on different days, or a witness brought in after your parent has left |
Who may witness, and who must not
A witness has to be able to see that a signature is being made. Section 9 adds that a will is not invalid merely because a witness later turns out to be incompetent to give evidence. Section 10 is the sharper rule: if a person attests the will and the will gives them, or their spouse, any property, that gift is void — the rest of the will stands, and section 10(3) can save the position if the will was duly executed without that person’s attestation.
The practical rule is therefore simple: use two witnesses who take nothing under the will and are not married to anyone who does. An executor is in a different position — section 12 says an executor is not disqualified from witnessing — but an executor who is also a beneficiary should still stand back, because section 10 does not care which role the person was filling.
- Good: a neighbour, a family friend, a former colleague — two people, both in the room.
- Avoid: anyone named in the will, their spouse, and anyone who would inherit if the will failed.
- Never: a witness who signs on a different day, or who was not present when your parent signed.
Choosing an executor
The will should name an executor, and normally a substitute as well. Section 27 of the Probate and Administration Ordinance (Cap. 10) provides that where probate is granted to one or some of several named executors, every power of a personal representative may be exercised by the proving executor — so naming two people does not deadlock the estate if only one of them applies.
An executor may renounce. Section 29 allows express renunciation in writing, attested by a solicitor or by a person before whom an affidavit may be sworn, or orally at the hearing of a petition. Renouncing before a grant is straightforward; once a grant has been taken, the route is an application to the court under section 33, which is slower and costs more. What an executor actually does is the page to read next.
No grant is made to more than four personal representatives, and no one under 21 may take one. For most families, one executor plus a substitute is the workable answer.
Revoking and changing a will
Section 13 is exhaustive. A will can be revoked only by marriage (section 14), by a later valid will, by a written revocation executed in the way a will must be executed, or by burning, tearing or otherwise destroying it with the intention of revoking it. Nothing else works — not a note in the margin, not a message to the family, not telling the solicitor what was meant.
| What happened | What the law says | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Your parent marries | The will is revoked by the marriage, subject to the exceptions in section 14 | Sign a new will after the wedding |
| A clause is crossed out and initialled | An alteration after execution has no effect unless executed like a will — section 16 | Sign a clean copy instead |
| A second will is signed later | The later will revokes the earlier one — section 13(1)(b) | Keep one signed original in circulation, and say where it is |
| The original is torn up by accident | Revocation requires intention — section 13(1)(d) | That is a dispute, not a formality: take advice |
| An old will is “brought back” | Revival needs re-execution or a codicil — section 17 | Sign a new will |
Where the signed original should live
The family will need the original at the Probate Registry. Photographs help the conversation; they are not a substitute for the document. Tell the executor where it is, tell one other person, and keep it somewhere a fire will not reach.
A bank safe deposit box is the usual answer, with one caveat: after a death, access to a safe deposit box is governed by Part VA of Cap. 10, and the surviving renter’s access is restricted while an inventory is prepared. The executor should therefore know the arrangement — and who else is on the box — before anyone needs it. Keeping documents safe covers storage in more detail.
When a template is not enough
Section 23A lets the court rectify a will that fails to carry out the testator’s intentions because of a clerical error or a failure to understand instructions, but only on application, and normally not after six months from the first grant. Rectification is a remedy, not a plan.
A solicitor is worth the fee where there is property in more than one place, a business, a second marriage, a beneficiary who receives means-tested support, or a family member likely to challenge the outcome. Writing the will yourself sets out what a downloaded template can and cannot do.
Sources
These are the primary sources for the legal statements on this page. Read the ordinance itself before relying on any summary, including this one.
- Wills Ordinance (Cap. 30) — section 3 (property disposable by will), section 4 (wills of persons not of full age), section 5 (signing and witnessing), section 9 (incompetent witness), section 10 (gifts to attesting witnesses), section 12 (executor as witness), section 13 (revocation), section 14 (revocation by marriage), section 16 (alterations), section 17 (revival), section 19 (will speaks from death) and section 23A (rectification).
- Probate and Administration Ordinance (Cap. 10) — section 25 (number of personal representatives), section 27 (proving executors), section 29 (renunciation) and section 33 (revocation of grants).
- Non-Contentious Probate Rules (Cap. 10A) — the forms and the oath required to obtain a grant.
- Judiciary — Probate Registry — the Registry’s own guidance on grants and the documents needed.
- Community Legal Information Centre — wills — plain-language answers on making and proving a will in Hong Kong.
- Legal Aid Department — legal aid for proceedings; it does not pay for the drafting of a will.
- Home Affairs Department — enquiry service FAQ — the department’s own answer that it does not provide will-making services, that its declaration and oath service is free of charge, and that a declaration or oath is not a will.
- The Duty Lawyer Service — Free Legal Advice Scheme — preliminary one-off advice, no means test, no charge, no drafting and no follow-up; referral agencies include the Home Affairs Enquiry Centres.
- GovHK — how to get legal advice — the government’s own directory of the free advice routes, as distinct from legal aid.
Where to go next
This page is general information, not legal advice. A will that deals with property outside Hong Kong, a family business, or a beneficiary who cannot manage money needs a solicitor, and the drafting is the cheap part of getting it wrong.
If the will is signed and you want to know what happens at the other end, read probate. If you are storing the signed original this week, the readiness score is how Legaris tracks which documents a family still cannot lay hands on.
Frequently asked questions
- Is 平安紙 the same as a will?
- Yes. 平安紙 is the Cantonese name families use for a will; the Wills Ordinance (Cap. 30) calls it 遺囑. There is no separate instrument and no different legal test.
- Can a will in Hong Kong be handwritten?
- Yes. Section 5 requires writing and a signature, not typing or printing. A handwritten will is valid if it is signed in front of two witnesses who are present at the same time, and each witness signs or acknowledges their signature.
- Does a will have to be made by a lawyer?
- No. Section 5 sets the formalities and does not require a solicitor to draft or witness the will. A solicitor is worth the fee where there is property, a business, a second marriage or a beneficiary who needs protection.
- What if the family cannot find the original will after the death?
- The estate is dealt with as if there were no will unless a copy, or evidence of its contents, can be proved to the court. That is why the executor should know where the signed original is kept.
The Legaris readiness note
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Read next
- Will Template Hong Kong: What a 遺囑範本 Can and Cannot DoA will template for Hong Kong (遺囑範本) is only as good as its signing. What Cap. 30 requires of a homemade will, the section 10 witness trap, and the court’s fix.
- Executor Duties in Hong Kong: 遺囑執行人 and the Beneficiary QuestionExecutor duties in Hong Kong (遺囑執行人): the will names you, but nothing can be touched until probate. Who may act, and how to renounce the role.
- Probate in Hong Kong: Grants, Forms and the Probate and Administration OrdinanceProbate in Hong Kong, from the Probate and Administration Ordinance (Cap. 10): what a grant is, who can apply, the forms, the fees and how long it takes.
Explore more
- SilverGuard Technologies, the parent company working on technology for ageing familiesContext for families preparing documents alongside care arrangements.
- Legaris on the SilverGuard product shelfWhere the readiness app sits in the wider product family.
- Easikin, a caregiving workspace for adult childrenThe care side of the same week: who is with the parent, and when.
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