How to Write a Will in the UK (And Why You Need

I wrote my will about three months after I retired. I was 40 years old, sitting in my kitchen in Northern Ireland, thinking about what would happen to my family if I got hit by a bus. Cheerful stuff, I know. But it was one of the most important things I did that year, and I genuinely wish I had done it ten years earlier.

Most people in the UK don’t have a will. The stats are wild. According to research from Canada Life, around 54% of UK adults have no will at all. That means more than half the country is leaving it to the government to decide what happens to everything they own when they die.

If you have assets, a property, a pension, savings, or children, you need a will. Full stop.

What happens if you die without a will?

When someone dies without a will, it’s called dying intestate. And the rules around intestacy are not what most people assume.

If you are married or in a civil partnership and have children, your spouse gets the first £322,000 of your estate plus all personal possessions. Everything above that gets split: half to your spouse, half divided equally among your children.

If you are not married but you have a partner you have lived with for 20 years, they get nothing. Legally, they are a stranger. The house, the savings, the investments. It all goes to your next of kin according to the intestacy rules. Your parents. Your siblings. Not the person who shared your life.

If you have no spouse, no children, and no living parents, it goes to your siblings. If none of them, then more distant relatives. If nobody can be found, it goes to the Crown. The government literally takes the lot.

These rules catch people out constantly. And the only way to override them is to have a valid will in place.

What should your will include?

A will does not need to be complicated. For most people, it covers four things:

1. Who gets what. This is the core of it. Your property, your savings, your investments, your personal belongings. You decide who receives each of these. You can be as specific as you want: “my Rolex to my brother” or as broad as “everything split equally between my two children.”

2. Guardians for your children. If you have kids under 18, this is arguably the most important part. Without a will naming guardians, the courts decide who raises your children. I have two kids. The thought of a judge making that call, without knowing our family, was enough to get me moving.

3. Your executors. These are the people responsible for carrying out your wishes. They deal with HMRC, settle debts, distribute assets, and handle the admin that comes with death. Choose someone you trust, someone who is organised, and ideally someone who is younger than you.

4. Any specific wishes. Funeral preferences, charitable donations, trusts for children who are too young to inherit directly. You can set conditions too. For example, children receiving their inheritance at 25 rather than 18.

Online wills vs solicitor: what is the difference?

You have two main options for writing a will in the UK:

Online will services (£90 to £150)

Companies like Farewill, Beyond, and Co-op Legal Services offer online will writing. You answer a series of questions, the system generates a will document, and you print it, sign it, and get it witnessed. It costs around £90 for a single will or £130 to £150 for a pair (known as mirror wills for couples).

For straightforward situations (married, kids, house, savings, no complicated business structures), an online will is perfectly adequate. The legal requirements for a valid will in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland are simple: it must be in writing, signed by you, and witnessed by two independent adults who are not beneficiaries.

Solicitor (£300 to £500+)

If your estate is more complex (business interests, property abroad, blended families, inheritance tax planning), a solicitor is worth the extra cost. They will spot issues you might miss, structure things tax-efficiently, and ensure the will holds up if anyone decides to challenge it.

I used a solicitor. Not because my situation was especially complex, but because I wanted a professional to review everything properly. It cost me £350 for mirror wills for me and my wife. That felt like money well spent for something this important.

Free will writing

If you are over 55, several charities offer free will writing through schemes like Free Wills Month (usually in March and October). Will Aid runs in November and asks for a suggested donation to charity rather than a fee. It is worth checking if one of these aligns with your timing.

Storing your will

Once your will is written and signed, you need to keep it safe. The three most common options:

With your solicitor. They store it securely and your executor knows where to find it.
At the Probate Registry. You can deposit your will with the Principal Registry of the Family Division for £5. It is the most secure option.
At home. Fine, as long as your executor knows exactly where it is and it is protected from fire or water damage. A fireproof safe is sensible.

Do not put your will in a bank safe deposit box. When you die, accessing the box requires a grant of probate, which requires the will. You can see the problem.

When to update your will

A will is not a “write it and forget it” document. You should review it when any of these happen:

You get married (marriage automatically revokes a previous will in England and Wales)
You get divorced
You have children or grandchildren
You buy or sell property
Your financial situation changes significantly
One of your executors or beneficiaries dies

I review mine every couple of years. It takes 20 minutes to read through it and check everything still reflects what I want.

The real cost of not having a will

Dying intestate does not just mean your assets go to the wrong people. It also means the process of sorting everything out takes longer, costs more, and causes your family significantly more stress at the worst possible time.

With a will, probate is usually straightforward. Without one, your family has to apply for Letters of Administration, which takes longer and involves more paperwork. Legal fees increase. Family disputes are more likely. And if you have young children, the court has to make decisions that you should have made yourself.

I sat down on a Tuesday morning, spent 90 minutes with a solicitor, and walked out knowing that if anything happened to me, my family was looked after exactly the way I wanted. That peace of mind is worth far more than £350.

If you have been putting this off, stop. This week. Book the appointment, fill out the online form, or pick up the phone. It is one of the most important financial decisions you will ever make, and it costs less than a decent pair of trainers.

How to Write a Will in the UK (And Why You Need One Now)