A UK couple have lived together for 14 years. They share a mortgage, a joint bank account, and two children. Neither has written a will because they assume the other would inherit. One of them dies unexpectedly at 47.
Under UK intestacy rules, the surviving partner — unmarried — inherits nothing. The estate passes to the deceased's children (correct, in this case), but only at age 18, with the surviving parent locked out of decision-making over how the inherited assets are managed in the meantime. The house is in joint names, which helps; the savings, the pension lump sums, and the contents of the deceased's individual accounts pass through intestacy and can't be reached easily by the survivor. A six-month probate process resolves it eventually, but the surviving partner spends the most difficult year of their life dealing with a legal mess that a £100 will would have entirely prevented.
This is the actual point of will-writing. It's not about minimising inheritance tax for the wealthy; it's about making sure that the people you actually want to inherit, do. For most UK adults that's a £100-£140 online will, signed and witnessed in an evening, that prevents 90% of the awful intestacy scenarios.
Who specifically needs to write one urgently
Some adults can plausibly defer. Most can't. Specifically:
Anyone with an unmarried partner. Intestacy gives unmarried partners nothing. No exceptions, regardless of how long the relationship has been or whether you have children together. This is the most common preventable disaster in UK estate planning.
Anyone with children. A will nominates a guardian if both parents die. Without it, the courts decide. The default outcome is usually fine; "usually" is doing a lot of work in that sentence.
Anyone with stepchildren they consider their own. Stepchildren inherit nothing under intestacy. If the relationship is parental, the will needs to say so explicitly.
Anyone with assets in unusual forms. Cryptocurrency, business shares, intellectual property, foreign property, or anything that requires specific knowledge to access. Without a will and a clear inventory, executors can take years to find these or never find them at all.
Anyone over 50. The probability of dying before 60 is low but non-zero, and if it happens, the household will be navigating grief plus tax filings plus probate plus discovering passwords for the deceased's accounts. The will is the document that shortens that ordeal from 18 months to 6.
The ones who can defer with less risk: married couples without children, no significant assets, no specific bequests. Even here, intestacy distributes among parents and siblings in ways that aren't always what's wanted, but the disaster scenarios are smaller.
The three routes, and which one's right
Most UK wills sit in one of three categories.
Online wills (Farewill, Co-op, Make a Will Online). £90-£200 for a single will, £150-£250 for mirror wills (couples). UK-regulated, solicitor-reviewed, takes 30-60 minutes online plus the witnessed signing. Right for the substantial majority of UK adults — a single property, a clear set of beneficiaries, no complex trusts, no business ownership, no inheritance tax planning. Farewill is the largest and best-known; Co-op Legal and Which? Wills are equivalents.
Solicitor wills. £400-£800 for a competent local solicitor, £1,000-£3,000 for complex estate planning. The right answer when there's genuine complexity: a blended family with complicated bequests, a business that needs to be passed on, multiple properties, an estate above the inheritance tax threshold (£325,000-£500,000 depending on circumstances), or any need for trust establishment. The solicitor produces a bespoke document and gives advice that an online tool can't.
Free will schemes. Free Wills Month (October) and the over-55 Free Wills schemes (Cancer Research, Octopus Group, others) offer free wills via panel solicitors in exchange for an option to leave a charitable bequest in the will. The bequest is genuinely optional, though strongly encouraged. The will is a real solicitor will, not a template. For UK adults aged 55+ who'd plausibly leave a charity bequest anyway, this is excellent value.
What to actively avoid: the £15 will templates from stationery shops or online template-sellers. They produce documents that pass technical validity tests but routinely fail at the small details — ambiguous bequest language, missing residuary clauses, unclear executor nominations — and end up generating exactly the sort of probate dispute the will was supposed to prevent.
Inheritance tax, briefly
Estates above £325,000 (the nil-rate band) are taxed at 40% on the excess. With the residence nil-rate band, a married couple leaving a primary residence to direct descendants can effectively pass on £1 million tax-free. For most UK estates this is enough headroom; the inheritance-tax-relevant population is a minority of households.
For estates approaching or exceeding the threshold, the tax planning matters and the online-will route stops being adequate. Lifetime gifting (within the seven-year rule), trust structures, charitable giving (which reduces the tax rate from 40% to 36% if 10%+ goes to charity), and Business Property Relief for business owners all become genuinely worth the £1,500-£3,000 of solicitor and financial advisor fees. The tax savings on a £1 million estate above threshold can be £100,000-£300,000; the planning fees are a fraction of that.
For estates well below the threshold: don't worry about it. Use Farewill, name beneficiaries, sign and witness, file the document.
What actually goes in a will
The components most online tools walk you through:
Executors — usually one or two trusted adults who'll handle probate and distribute the estate. Should be informed they're nominated; often a friend, sibling, or adult child.
Guardians for minor children — only relevant if you have children under 18. Usually a sibling or close friend agreed in advance.
Specific bequests — items or sums to specific people ("£5,000 to my sister Anne", "the Rolex watch to my son Tom").
Residuary clause — what happens to everything not specifically allocated. Usually goes to the spouse/partner, then children, with charity backup if both fail.
Funeral wishes — burial vs cremation, religious preferences. Not legally binding but useful.
Letter of wishes — separate document, not legally binding, that explains your reasoning. Useful for blended families where the will makes specific choices that might puzzle the executors.
The bits that most often go wrong in DIY wills: vague residuary clauses ("everything to my family" — which family members? in what proportions?), outdated executor nominations (executor died, never updated), and missing the witness signing requirements (two witnesses, present at the same time, neither a beneficiary or a beneficiary's spouse).
Signing the will, properly
A will is only valid when signed correctly. The requirements:
You must be 18 or over and have mental capacity at the time of signing.
The will must be in writing, either typed or handwritten.
You must sign at the end of the document, in the presence of two witnesses.
The two witnesses must both be present at the same time when you sign, and they must each sign in your presence.
Witnesses cannot be beneficiaries, and cannot be the spouse or civil partner of a beneficiary. (A witness who's a beneficiary doesn't invalidate the will but does invalidate their own bequest.)
Online will services produce the document, but the signing happens physically with two witnesses in person. Plan ahead — neighbours, work colleagues, or non-beneficiary friends are the typical witnesses. Some online services have witness-finding partnerships if you can't easily arrange it.
Storing the will
A will that exists but no one can find is worse than no will at all. The storage options:
The National Will Register (Certainty), £20-£40, lets executors find your will via a national database. The will itself is stored either with a solicitor, with the will service, or by you.
Solicitor's safe — most solicitors will store a will free of charge for ongoing clients, or for a small fee otherwise.
Probate Service (HM Courts) will store a will for £20.
Home storage works if you tell the executor where it is and they can find it.
Tell the executor you've made a will, where it's stored, and what their role is. The conversation is awkward; not having it is worse.
When to update
A will is not a one-off document. Update after:
Marriage (which automatically revokes existing wills not made in contemplation of that marriage).
Divorce (which removes the ex-spouse from the will but doesn't invalidate the rest).
Children born or adopted.
A beneficiary or executor dies.
Major asset changes — new property, sold business, substantial inheritance.
Moving abroad — the will may not apply correctly under foreign jurisdiction.
In the absence of life events, review every 5-7 years. The cost of updating an online will is minimal (£40-£80 for a revision), and the cost of an out-of-date will can be substantial.
Lasting Power of Attorney — the other essential
The will deals with what happens after death. Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) deals with what happens if you become unable to make decisions while alive — dementia, severe illness, accident.
There are two types:
Health and Welfare LPA — covers medical decisions, care arrangements, end-of-life choices.
Property and Financial Affairs LPA — covers banking, property, bills, financial decisions.
Each costs £82 to register with the Office of the Public Guardian. The form can be filled out via Farewill (about £100-£150 per LPA), through a solicitor (£150-£300 per LPA), or directly via gov.uk for free plus the registration fee.
Without an LPA, even a spouse can't easily make decisions for an incapacitated partner. Court of Protection deputyship is the alternative, and it's slow, expensive, and stressful. For UK adults over 50, the LPA is genuinely as important as the will, and most people don't have one.
What I'd actually do
For most UK adults with simple estates: Farewill online will at £100-£140, plus an LPA via Farewill or gov.uk, signed and witnessed within a fortnight, stored with the National Will Register. Total cost £200-£350 for full coverage.
For UK adults with complex estates (blended families, business ownership, multi-property, inheritance tax exposure): solicitor will at £600-£1,200, plus LPA, with a financial advisor consultation if estate planning is genuinely worth optimising. Total cost £1,000-£3,000.
For UK adults aged 55+ with simple estates and any plausible interest in charitable giving: Free Wills Month or one of the charity-linked free will schemes. The bequest is optional; the will is real.
The conversation with the people who'll be affected — the executor, the guardians for children, the beneficiaries who might be surprised — is part of the same process. Tell them. Awkward in the moment; the alternative is worse.
The pattern across the category: most UK adults overestimate how complex their will needs to be, then defer indefinitely on the basis that complexity is impossible to handle. The reality is that an online will at £100 covers what most people actually need, and the awful scenarios it prevents are far more common than the marginal scenarios that need a solicitor.
This article is general consumer information about UK will writing, not legal advice. UK wills are governed by UK law; consult UK solicitor for advice on your specific situation, particularly for complex estates.
Affiliate disclosure: Morningfold has affiliate partnerships with Farewill and other UK will services. See editorial standards.