How to Write a Will in the UK: A Step-by-Step Guide

Picture a kitchen drawer in a house that has just gone quiet. Inside it, among takeaway menus and spare keys, is a sheet of lined paper. At the top it says "My Will". It is in the right handwriting, it is signed, and it says exactly who should have the house. It was witnessed by one neighbour, and the neighbour's husband was named in it as the person who gets the car.

That piece of paper may be worth almost nothing. One witness is not enough in England and Wales, and the gift to the witness's husband would fail even if it were. The family now faces the intestacy rules, a letter from the Probate Registry, and possibly a disagreement nobody expected.

Around 1,800 people die in the UK every day, part of the roughly 170,000 deaths a day you can watch on our live counter. A large share of them leave no valid will at all. This guide explains how to write one that actually works: what the law requires, what to put in it, the choice between doing it yourself and paying a professional, and how to keep it up to date. It focuses on England and Wales, with notes on Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Why a will matters more than people think

Without a valid will, your estate is shared out under fixed legal rules called intestacy. Those rules ignore unmarried partners, stepchildren and friends entirely, and they can split a family home in ways nobody intended. We explain the full rules in what happens if you die without a will in the UK.

What a will lets you do	What happens without one
Choose who inherits, including an unmarried partner	Partner who is not married or in a civil partnership gets nothing automatically
Name executors you trust	The court appoints an administrator, usually the nearest relative
Name guardians for children under 18	Courts may decide who cares for them
Leave gifts to friends, godchildren or charities	Only relatives can inherit
Use inheritance tax allowances well	Allowances may be wasted (see below)
Leave funeral wishes	Family has to guess

That last tax point is not minor. As we explain in inheritance tax explained, the £175,000 residence nil-rate band only applies if a home goes to children or grandchildren. A will that leaves the house to the right people can be worth tens of thousands of pounds to them.

The legal rules: what makes a will valid

GOV.UK sets out the basic requirements for a will in England and Wales. They come from the Wills Act 1837, and they are stricter than many people realise.

Requirement	England and Wales
Age of the person making the will	18 or over (members of the armed forces on active service are an exception)
Mental capacity	You must understand what you are doing and what you own
Free will	No one can pressure you into it
Written	It must be in writing (handwritten or typed is fine)
Signed	By you, or by someone else in your presence and at your direction
Witnesses	Two witnesses, both present when you sign
Witnesses sign	Both witnesses then sign in your presence

Who can witness. GOV.UK says witnesses should be over 18 and must not be people who benefit from the will, or their husband, wife or civil partner. If a beneficiary or their spouse witnesses it, the will can still be valid, but that person loses their gift. That is exactly the trap in the kitchen drawer example.

Video witnessing has ended. During the pandemic, a temporary law allowed wills to be witnessed over video link. That change only covered wills made up to 31 January 2024. Today, the witnesses need to be physically present with you.

Electronic wills are not valid. You cannot make a will by email, by text or with a digital signature in England and Wales. The Law Commission has been reviewing the law on electronic wills, but for now a will has to be a signed piece of paper.

Step one: list what you own and owe

Before you write a word, make a list. It does not need to be precise to the pound.

Asset or debt	What to note
Your home	How it is owned: in your sole name, as joint tenants or tenants in common
Bank and savings accounts	Bank names and roughly what is in each
Pensions	Provider and whether you have filled in a nomination form
Life insurance	Provider and whether it is written in trust
Investments, ISAs, premium bonds	Provider names
Valuables	Jewellery, cars, anything of sentimental value
Digital assets	Online accounts, photos, crypto (see what happens to your social media when you die)
Debts	Mortgage, loans, credit cards

How your home is owned matters a great deal. A house owned as joint tenants passes automatically to the other owner, whatever your will says. A share owned as tenants in common passes under your will. Your Land Registry title will show which applies.

Some assets never go through your will at all. Pensions usually pay out according to the nomination form you gave the provider, and life insurance written in trust goes straight to the trustees. Update those forms alongside your will. Our guide to what happens to your bank account when you die explains how joint accounts are handled.

Step two: decide who gets what

There are three main kinds of gift in a will.

Type of gift	What it means	Example
Specific gift	A particular item	"My grandmother's ring to my niece"
Pecuniary legacy	A fixed sum of money	"£5,000 to the British Heart Foundation"
Residuary estate	Everything left after debts, tax, costs and other gifts	"The rest of my estate to my children in equal shares"

The residue is usually the largest part of an estate, so be clear about it. Always say what happens if a beneficiary dies before you: for example, that their share passes to their own children. Without that backup, part of the estate may fall into intestacy anyway.

If you want to leave money to charity, gifts to UK charities are free of inheritance tax, and leaving at least 10% of the net estate to charity can cut the rate on the rest from 40% to 36%.

Step three: choose your executors and guardians

Your executors are the people who will carry out your wishes. They apply for probate, collect the money, pay any debts and tax, and hand out the inheritance. Our probate guide explains how much work that involves.

Choice	Practical points
Number of executors	At least two is sensible; a maximum of four can apply for probate
Who to pick	Organised, trusted people; they can also be beneficiaries
Professionals	A solicitor or bank can act, but they charge fees from the estate
Replacement executor	Name one in case your first choice cannot act
Guardians for children	Name who will care for children under 18 if both parents die

Ask people before you name them. Being an executor can take a year or more.

DIY, will writer or solicitor?

You can legally write your own will. Whether you should depends on how simple your affairs are.

Option	Good for	Risks
DIY will (kit or template)	Very simple estates: one home, savings, everything to a spouse then children	Mistakes in wording or signing can make it invalid or unclear
Online will service	Simple to moderate estates, with some checking	Quality varies; check what checking is actually included
Will writer	Moderate estates at lower cost	Will writing is not a regulated legal activity in England and Wales; check insurance and membership of a professional body
Solicitor	Blended families, business assets, property abroad, inheritance tax planning, anyone you expect may contest it	Higher cost
Charity free wills schemes	Many charities run free will months with local solicitors	They usually hope, but do not require, that you leave a gift

GOV.UK recommends getting advice if your will is not straightforward: for example, if you share property with someone who is not your husband, wife or civil partner, if you have family members who depend on you financially, if you have property overseas or if you own a business.

Prices change and vary by area, so compare a few quotes rather than relying on a figure from any article.

Step four: sign it properly

This is where most homemade wills fail. Follow the rules exactly.

1. Get two independent adult witnesses who are not beneficiaries and not married to beneficiaries.
2. All three of you should be together in the same room.
3. You sign and date the will in front of both witnesses.
4. Each witness signs in front of you.
5. Do not staple anything to the will or remove staples afterwards. Marks from removed staples can raise questions about whether pages went missing.

A short "attestation clause" above the signatures, saying the will was signed in the presence of both witnesses, makes probate smoother. Most templates include one.

Step five: store it safely and tell people

A perfect will that nobody can find is the same as no will. Common choices:

Where to keep it	Notes
At home	Fireproof and secure; tell your executors exactly where
With your solicitor	Most store wills for clients; keep their details with your papers
With the Probate Service	GOV.UK runs a will storage service for England and Wales (check GOV.UK for the current fee)
A bank	Some offer storage, often for a fee

Do not keep the only copy in a safe deposit box that only you can open. Make a note of where the original is, and keep an unsigned copy with your other papers so your family knows what it says.

Step six: keep it up to date

A will is not a one-time job. Review it every five years, and after any big life change.

Life event	What happens to your will (England and Wales)
Marriage or civil partnership	Your existing will is cancelled unless it was made in expectation of that marriage
Divorce or dissolution	Your will stays valid, but your ex is treated as if they had died before you
Separation without divorce	Your ex can still inherit under your will
New child or grandchild	Your will does not update itself; check they are covered
Moving house	Check gifts of a specific property still make sense
Executor dies or falls out with you	Name someone new

The marriage rule surprises people more than any other. Couples who wrote wills while living together, then married, often have no valid will at all. The Law Commission has proposed changing this, but it remains the law today.

To make a small change, you can add a codicil: a short document that amends the will, signed and witnessed in the same way. For bigger changes, it is usually cleaner to write a new will that starts by revoking all earlier ones. Never write changes on the original will itself: alterations made after signing are not valid unless they are signed and witnessed too.

Scotland and Northern Ireland

	England and Wales	Scotland	Northern Ireland
Minimum age	18	12	18
Witnesses needed	Two	One (signing every page is recommended)	Two
Does marriage cancel a will?	Yes	No	Yes
Can children be completely cut out?	Yes, but they may claim under the 1975 Inheritance Act	No: children and spouses have "legal rights" to part of the movable estate	Yes, but a claim is possible

In Scotland, a spouse or civil partner and children have legal rights to a share of savings, money and possessions, whatever the will says. Check mygov.scot for Scotland and nidirect for Northern Ireland.

Common questions

Can I leave nothing to my children? In England and Wales, yes. But people you supported financially can bring a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. If you plan to leave someone out, take advice and write down your reasons.

Do I need a will if I am married? Yes. Spouses do not automatically inherit everything. Under intestacy, if your estate is above £322,000 and you have children, your children share part of it.

What about a lasting power of attorney? A will only works after you die. If you lose capacity while you are alive, you need a different document. See our guide to lasting power of attorney.

The bottom line

A valid will in England and Wales needs only a few things: you must be 18 and of sound mind, it must be in writing, and you must sign it in front of two independent witnesses who then sign too. Most failed wills fall down on those simple steps, not on legal technicalities. After that, the real value comes from telling people where it is, and reviewing it when life changes.

If you want to see how your own estate might be shared, try our will calculator. And if you want to leave your family a clear map of everything else (accounts, passwords, funeral wishes and messages), our When I'm Gone planner was made for exactly that. Then read what to do when someone dies in the UK to see what your executors will face.

While you were reading this, around 15 people died in the UK and more than 1,300 worldwide. You can see the total rise on our live death counter. Writing a will takes an afternoon. Leaving one is one of the kindest things you can do.

Sources: GOV.UK, Making a will (valid will requirements, witnesses, getting advice, updating a will, storing your will); Wills Act 1837, sections 9, 15 and 18; GOV.UK, Wills: witnessing by video link (temporary measure for wills made up to 31 January 2024); Law Commission, Making a Will project; GOV.UK, rules of intestacy and the £322,000 statutory legacy for deaths from 26 July 2023; mygov.scot, making a will in Scotland; nidirect, making a will in Northern Ireland. Rules and fees change, so check GOV.UK before you act. This article is general information, not legal advice. For anything beyond a simple estate, speak to a solicitor.