59% of UK adults don't have a valid will (IRN Research, 2025). If you are one of them, the good news is that you can write a will in the UK yourself — legally, in under an hour, and often for free.
This is a complete guide to how to write a will in the UK in 2026: what the law actually requires, the five ways of doing it, how much each costs, and the mistakes that quietly invalidate wills every year.
Is it legal to write your own will in the UK?
Yes. There is no legal requirement to use a solicitor. The law that governs wills in England and Wales — the Wills Act 1837 — does not mention solicitors once. It simply sets out what a will has to look like to be valid.
That means you can write your own will at the kitchen table, use an online service, or hire a solicitor. All three produce a legally equivalent document, provided the will meets the validity rules (more on those in the next section).
What changes with professional help is not legality — it is risk. A solicitor brings judgement about edge cases: blended families, business assets, foreign property, potential disputes. For a simple estate with a straightforward family, a well-drafted DIY will is perfectly legal and binding.
What to do: Do not let anyone tell you a DIY will is "not proper". It can be. The question is whether your situation is straightforward enough to handle yourself.
What makes a will valid in the UK?
The Wills Act lays down six requirements. Miss any one of them and the will is invalid.
- You are 18 or over (the only exception is "privileged wills" made by serving military personnel)
- You have mental capacity — you understand what a will is, what you own, and who you are leaving it to
- The will is in writing — typed or handwritten, in any language
- You sign the will (or direct someone to sign on your behalf in your presence)
- Two witnesses are present together when you sign
- Both witnesses then sign in your presence
The single most common mistake is the witnessing rule. Both witnesses must be physically present at the same moment you sign — they cannot witness one at a time, or sign afterwards from another room. They must also be independent adults: a witness cannot be a beneficiary in the will, nor married to a beneficiary. If they are, the gift to that beneficiary is void (though the will itself can remain valid).
Scotland has slightly different rules — only one witness is needed, and people over 12 can make a will. This guide focuses on England and Wales.
What to do: Line up two independent adult witnesses before you sit down to sign. Never use a beneficiary or their spouse.
The five ways to write a will in the UK
Each route is legal. The differences are cost, speed, and how much hand-holding you get.
1. DIY template (cheapest) — download a form, fill it in, sign with witnesses. Works for very simple estates, but offers no guidance if your situation has any nuance.
2. Online will service — guided digital forms from providers like Beqst or larger consumer services. Faster than a solicitor, usually more structured than a template, and designed for ordinary UK estates.
3. Will-writing company — unregulated but often well-priced. Quality varies. Check if the company is a member of the Institute of Professional Willwriters.
4. Solicitor — regulated, insured, best for anything complex: trusts, overseas assets, business interests, or blended families where a dispute is plausible.
5. Charity will scheme — free or donation-based. Free Wills Month (March and October) and Will Aid (November) pair you with a local solicitor who drafts a basic will in exchange for a charitable donation.
What to do: Start by honestly assessing your estate's complexity. If you own a home, have no business interests, no children from previous relationships, and no assets outside the UK, an online service will usually be enough. Anything more complex deserves a solicitor's eye.
What to include in your will
A will has to answer five practical questions:
- Who are your executors? The person or people who will carry out your wishes. Name two if you can — and tell them.
- Who gets what? Specific gifts (cash, possessions, property) and the "residue" (everything left over) split between named beneficiaries.
- Who looks after your children? If you have children under 18, name guardians. Without this, the court decides.
- What happens if a beneficiary dies before you? A substitution clause ("or to their children in equal shares") prevents gifts from falling back into the residue unexpectedly.
- What are your funeral wishes? Not legally binding, but your family will thank you.
The single biggest oversight in homemade wills is failing to deal with the residue. A will that only lists specific gifts leaves everything else to pass under intestacy rules — which can send it to people you never intended.
What to do: Make sure your will has a residue clause, and that every gift has a "what if they die first" fallback.
Common mistakes that invalidate wills
These are the problems that show up repeatedly in probate disputes:
- Signing without two witnesses present together — the most common cause of invalidity
- A beneficiary (or their spouse) witnessing the will — valid will, but the gift to that beneficiary fails
- Marrying after making the will — marriage revokes an earlier will unless the will was made "in contemplation of marriage" to that specific person
- Staples, paper clips, or tears — anything suggesting something has been attached or removed can trigger a challenge
- Handwritten alterations after signing — amendments made after execution are usually ignored
- No date — not automatically invalidating, but it makes it difficult to prove which will is the latest
- Ambiguous language — "I leave £10,000 to my nephew" fails if you have three nephews
What to do: After signing, do not touch the original. Store it flat, somewhere your executor can find it, and make any changes with a formal codicil or a fresh will.
How much does it cost to write a will in the UK?
Costs in 2026 look roughly like this:
- Free — Free Wills Month, Will Aid, some over-55 schemes through Age UK
- £0 to £100 — online will services (Beqst, others)
- £100 to £200 — will-writing companies
- £150 to £500 — solicitor, straightforward will
- £500 to £1,000+ — solicitor, complex will involving trusts, foreign assets, or business property
Mirror wills for couples are usually cheaper per person. A codicil (a formal amendment) costs less than a new will but is rarely worth doing — starting fresh is cleaner.
Remember there are no probate fees to write a will. Probate fees (currently £300 for estates above £5,000) are paid by your estate after you die, not upfront when you write the will.
What to do: Price is the wrong starting point. Start with complexity. A £50 online will that perfectly fits your situation is better than a £400 solicitor will that does not.
When to update your will
A will is not a write-once document. Review it after any of the following:
- Marriage or civil partnership (this automatically revokes the existing will)
- Divorce or dissolution (does not revoke, but treats your ex as having predeceased you)
- Birth of a child or grandchild
- Death of an executor or beneficiary
- Buying or selling a property
- Receiving a significant inheritance
- Starting, selling, or closing a business
- Moving abroad or acquiring overseas assets
At minimum, skim your will every three to five years. Life quietly drifts out of sync with paperwork — a sibling passes away, a child has a grandchild of their own, a property sale changes what's actually in the estate, and suddenly the will in your drawer describes a household that no longer exists. Most invalid or contested wills are not drafted badly; they are just out of date.
What to do: Diarise a will review every three years, and always after a life event. If the changes are minor, a codicil works. If they are significant, write a new will and formally revoke the old one.
Writing the will is only half the job
A valid will sitting in a drawer your family cannot find is, for practical purposes, the same as no will at all. The final step — and the one most guides skip — is making sure your executor can actually locate and execute your will quickly.
That means telling your executor where the original is stored, keeping an up-to-date record of your assets alongside it, and reviewing both together every few years. This is why estate planning is a system, not a document — and why wills should be thought about alongside your full UK estate planning checklist, what your executor will actually have to do, and how your estate will be affected by inheritance tax thresholds.
A will is a set of instructions. Estate planning is making sure those instructions can actually be carried out.
Beqst guides you through writing a legally valid UK will in under 30 minutes, stores it alongside the rest of your estate, and gives your executor a clear starting point when the time comes. Start your will for free →