Are Online Will Writ­ing Ser­vices Legit?

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Catrin, UK Solicitor
29/02/2024 ● 5 minutes
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Over the last few years, online will writ­ing ser­vices have been on the rise. Aatos leads the way by making it easy to draft a leg­ally com­pli­ant and per­son­al­ised last will from the com­fort of your home.

Gone are the days of the daunt­ing, time-in­tens­ive visits to a so­li­citor's office to create your Last Will, or won­der­ing “are there any Will writ­ing ser­vices near me?”.

Nowadays, the pro­cess can be done from any­where thanks to nu­mer­ous online Will writ­ing ser­vices.

What Are Online Will Writ­ing Ser­vices?

At their core, online Will writ­ing ser­vices are plat­forms that allow you to create a Will online.

You simply fill out a straight­for­ward ques­tion­naire about your estate and how you wish it to be dis­trib­uted upon your death, and voilà, you've got a Will drafted and ready to sign.

So, if you've been put­ting off writ­ing your Will be­cause it seemed too com­plic­ated or ex­pens­ive, there's never been a better time to check out how these online ser­vices can help.

Read more: The Es­sen­tial Guide to Making a Will: Why It's Im­port­ant for Every­one

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Online Will Needs to Be Wit­nessed and Signed by Hand

An online Will is a legal doc­u­ment cre­ated using in­ternet-based ser­vices or tem­plates. Once cre­ated, however, the Will must be prin­ted out and un­der­go the tra­di­tion­al sign­ing pro­cess to become leg­ally bind­ing.

Des­pite the con­veni­ence of di­git­al tools, UK le­gis­la­tion man­dates that for a Will to be valid, it must be phys­ic­ally signed by the person making the Will (the test­ator) in the pres­ence of two wit­nesses, who must also sign the doc­u­ment. These wit­nesses must be present at the same time and ob­serve the test­ator sign­ing to ensure the au­then­ti­city of the Will.

The re­quire­ment for a Will to be signed and wit­nessed in person is cru­cial to pro­tect against fraud and undue in­flu­ence.

Wit­ness­ing en­sures that the test­ator is:

  1. will­ingly sign­ing the doc­u­ment without co­er­cion
  2. they are of sound mind to make such de­cisions.

This formal wit­ness­ing pro­cess helps pre­vent dis­putes among heirs by provid­ing clear, veri­fi­able proof of the test­ator's in­ten­tions. Thus, while the di­git­al pre­par­a­tion of Wills can stream­line the draft­ing pro­cess, the fi­nal­isa­tion still ad­heres to tra­di­tion­al legal pro­to­cols to safeguard the test­ator's wishes and the rights of the heirs.

Read more about in­test­acy rules

Be­ne­fits of Will Writ­ing Ser­vices

There are far more ad­vant­ages to Will writ­ing ser­vices than just avoid­ing having to go to a so­li­citor’s office.

Here’s why Will writ­ing ser­vices are be­com­ing the go-to option:

  • Ac­cess­ib­il­ity: With an in­ternet con­nec­tion, you can draft your Will any­where, any­time, elim­in­at­ing the need for phys­ical ap­point­ments.
  • Sim­pli­city: These user-friendly plat­forms guide you through each step with clear, straight­for­ward in­struc­tions, making the pro­cess un­der­stand­able for every­body.
  • Af­ford­ab­il­ity: By re­du­cing the need for direct legal advice, online ser­vices offer a cost-ef­fect­ive al­tern­at­ive to tra­di­tion­al Will writ­ing - there are even a few free Will writ­ing ser­vices out there.
  • Flex­ib­il­ity: These ser­vices allow you to work on your will at your own pace, making changes as your cir­cum­stances evolve.

Read more: How Much Does It Cost to Make a Will?

Choos­ing the Best Will Writ­ing Ser­vice

When it comes to choos­ing an online will writ­ing ser­vice, there are a few im­port­ant things to con­sider. Will writ­ing ser­vices vary in their of­fer­ings: while some provide only basic tem­plates, others offer per­son­al­ised ser­vices.

After all, you’re pre­par­ing a very im­port­ant doc­u­ment, so you want to get it just right and choose the best will writ­ing ser­vice in the market.

Pay at­ten­tion to

Here's a table com­par­ing the qual­it­ies of common will writ­ing ser­vices, out­lining what con­trib­utes to the best will writ­ing ser­vice:

Qual­ityDe­scrip­tion
Ease of UseThe plat­form should be user-friendly, with a clear pro­cess for draft­ing a Will.
Com­pre­hens­ive­nessIt should cover a wide range of scen­ari­os and provide op­tions to ad­dress com­plex situ­ations.
Legal Valid­ityThe ser­vice must ensure that the Will meets all legal re­quire­ments to be valid.
Cus­tom­er Sup­portEx­cel­lent cus­tom­er sup­port, of­fer­ing help through mul­tiple chan­nels (phone, email, live chat).
Cost Ef­fi­ciencyThe ser­vice should be priced com­pet­it­ively, of­fer­ing good value for the money.
Pri­vacy and Se­cur­ityStrong pri­vacy meas­ures and data se­cur­ity to pro­tect per­son­al in­form­a­tion.
Flex­ib­il­ity and Cus­tom­isa­tionAbil­ity to tailor the Will to spe­cif­ic needs, with op­tions for amend­ments and up­dates.
Post-Will Ser­vices (e.g., stor­age, up­dates)In­cludes ad­di­tion­al ser­vices such as secure stor­age of the Will and op­tions for easy up­dates in the future.

Read more: What You Should Never Put in Your Will in the UK?

💡 Take care of all your legal needs for £99. Aatos allows you to manage your Will, Lasting Power of At­torney, and Living Will, provides con­tinu­ous legal as­sist­ance whenever you need it, and en­sures your doc­u­ments are always up-to-date and stored prop­erly.

In­tro­du­cing Aatos: Will Writ­ing Ser­vice and more

Aatos is a lead­ing online Will writ­ing ser­vice in the Nor­dics and ticks all the boxes:

  • Legal Com­pli­ance
  • User-Friendly In­ter­face
  • Test the Ser­vice for Free
  • Cus­tom­ised Doc­u­ments
  • Free Legal Sup­port
  • Doc­u­ment Stor­age

With Aatos, draft­ing your Will is about craft­ing a per­son­al­ised doc­u­ment that truly re­flects your wishes and in­ten­tions.

How Aatos's Will Writ­ing Ser­vice Works?

Cre­at­ing your Will with Aatos is a simple and stress-free pro­cess.

Here’s what to expect:

  1. Re­spond to Simple Ques­tions: Aatos guides you through every step of the pro­cess, making it easy to state your wishes clearly. These back­ground ques­tions are identical to those a lawyer would ask to de­term­ine the most suit­able type of Will for you.
  2. Filling in Your De­tails: Add assets and heirs, and spe­cify spe­cial con­di­tions if you wish. You’ll find the pro­cess in­tu­it­ive, with prompts and advice to help you con­sider all the ne­ces­sary as­pects of your Will.
  3. Review and Adjust: You can review your Will and make ad­just­ments as needed. Aatos en­sures that chan­ging your mind at any stage is hassle-free, giving you the flex­ib­il­ity to adapt your Will as your cir­cum­stances change.
  4. Legal Fi­nal­isa­tion: Once you’re happy with your doc­u­ment, Aatos helps you com­plete the legal form­al­it­ies, en­sur­ing your Will meets all ne­ces­sary legal stand­ards and re­quire­ments.
  5. Doc­u­ment Stor­age: A di­git­al copy of your Will will always be safely stored on My Aatos ac­count.

Throughout the pro­cess, Aatos offers sup­port and advice to ensure that your Will is not only leg­ally com­pli­ant but also ac­cur­ately re­flects your wishes. This allows you to focus on what truly mat­ters - provid­ing for your loved ones and se­cur­ing your legacy with con­fid­ence.

💡 Did you know? Aatos's online legal ser­vice is ex­cep­tion­ally user-friendly, with many users over the age of 90.

Read more on what is Mirror Will

Be­ne­fits of Online Wills

Cre­at­ing Wills online offers sev­er­al sig­ni­fic­ant be­ne­fits that make this option in­creas­ingly pop­u­lar among in­di­vidu­als plan­ning their es­tates.

Online Will cre­ation is gen­er­ally more cost-ef­fect­ive than hiring a so­li­citor. Many plat­forms provide tem­plates and guided steps that help users draft a leg­ally com­pli­ant doc­u­ment without the high fees as­so­ci­ated with legal advice.

The con­veni­ence factor is a major ad­vantage. You can create and revise your Last Will from the com­fort of your own home, on your own schedule, without need­ing to schedule ap­point­ments or con­sulta­tions. This is par­tic­u­larly be­ne­fi­cial for those with busy life­styles or lim­ited mo­bil­ity.

Online Will ser­vices often in­clude op­tions for se­curely stor­ing the doc­u­ment and easy up­dat­ing cap­ab­il­it­ies. This means you can adjust your Will as cir­cum­stances change, such as fol­low­ing a mar­riage, di­vorce, birth of a child, or any other sig­ni­fic­ant life event, en­sur­ing that your Will always re­flects your cur­rent wishes.

Ad­di­tion­ally, many online Will plat­forms provide ad­di­tion­al re­sources and sup­port, such as in­form­a­tion on estate plan­ning and an­swers to fre­quently asked ques­tions, which can en­hance your un­der­stand­ing and con­fid­ence in the pro­cess.

Over­all, online Wills offer a blend of af­ford­ab­il­ity, con­veni­ence, flex­ib­il­ity, and sup­port, making them an ap­peal­ing choice for many in­di­vidu­als look­ing to ensure their final wishes are re­spec­ted.

💡 Get access to an on-going legal sup­port from Aatos for £99.

Ad­vant­ages of Using Aatos for Will Writ­ing

Aatos offers a viable al­tern­at­ive to tra­di­tion­al law­yers through its fully di­git­al, online ser­vice.

  • Quick and Con­veni­ent: With Aatos, you can draft your Will in a matter of minutes, with in­stant access at all times thanks to the online plat­form.
  • Ac­cess­ible Any­where: Whet­h­er on a phone, tablet, or com­puter, you can access and edit your Will on any device, at any time.
  • Cus­tom­ised Ser­vice: The ser­vice will gen­er­ate per­son­al­ised doc­u­ments for you and provide tail­ored re­com­mend­a­tions.
  • Free Legal Sup­port: Pro­fes­sion­al legal as­sist­ance is always on hand, en­sur­ing you have expert guid­ance whenever you need it.
  • Af­ford­able: Aatos offers fair, fixed pri­cing. Our smart use of tech­no­lo­gy makes pro­fes­sion­al will writ­ing ser­vices more af­ford­able than ever.
  • Data Se­cur­ity: We guar­an­tee the secure stor­age of your in­form­a­tion. Our ser­vice has un­der­gone audit­ing by an ex­tern­al com­pany.
  • Secure Stor­age: Keep your drafts and final doc­u­ments safely in 'My Aatos'. This fea­ture allows you to save and store all your legal doc­u­ments in one place, provid­ing peace of mind.

💡 Peace of mind: With Aatos Care­free, you can manage all your legal mat­ters in one go.

Read more: Does a New Will Re­place an Old Will in the UK?

Using a Will Writ­ing Ser­vice to Draft Your Will

Online Will writ­ing ser­vices have re­volu­tion­ised the way we ap­proach draft­ing Wills, making it faster, sim­pler, and more ac­cess­ible than ever.

Of these ser­vices, Aatos is a premier provider, of­fer­ing un­matched con­veni­ence, sup­port, and value for anyone look­ing to create a Will.

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