Simple Will: How to Create in 10 Minutes

A Simple Will is a legal doc­u­ment that out­lines how you want your assets dis­trib­uted after you pass away. It's per­fect for people with un­com­plic­ated es­tates, which means you don't have lots of debts, com­plex in­vest­ments, or wishes that re­quire de­tailed in­struc­tions.

This basic ap­proach to estate plan­ning makes it easier for you to create your Will, and also easier for your loved ones to follow your wishes after your death, avoid­ing un­ne­ces­sary stress during a dif­fi­cult time.

What is a Simple Will?

Es­sen­tially, a Simple Will lets you state who gets what, from your home to sav­ings, to per­son­al items, in a clear and un­com­plic­ated way.

The simplest Will one can create in the UK is a Basic Single Will.

Basic Single Will is ideal for someone with a small or un­com­plic­ated estate, such as someone leav­ing their assets to a single primary be­ne­fi­ciary (like a spouse or child) without com­plex in­struc­tions.

A Simple Will is a Basic Will

Here are the ele­ments you can expect to find in a basic Simple Will:

• De­clar­a­tion: This part iden­ti­fies you, the Will's cre­at­or, and states that the doc­u­ment is your Will.
• Ap­point­ing an Ex­ecut­or: You choose someone you trust to ensure your Will is car­ried out ex­actly as you wish. This person is called the ex­ecut­or.
• Asset Dis­tri­bu­tion: Here, you detail which assets (like your house, car, sav­ings) go to which people or or­gan­isa­tions.
• Re­voc­a­tion Clause: It's common to in­clude a state­ment re­vok­ing any pre­vi­ous Wills to ensure clar­ity and avoid con­fu­sion.
• Re­sid­uary Clause: This clause ad­dresses how any re­main­ing assets not spe­cific­ally men­tioned in the Will should be dis­trib­uted.
• Fu­ner­al Wishes: You may choose to out­line your pref­er­ences for your fu­ner­al ar­range­ments or any spe­cif­ic in­struc­tions re­gard­ing your burial or crema­tion.
• Date: Your Will must be dated on the same day it is signed to be leg­ally valid.
• Guard­i­an for Minors: If you have chil­dren under 18, you can spe­cify who you want to take care of them.
• Sig­na­tures: Your Will must be signed by you and, typ­ic­ally, two im­par­tial wit­nesses to be leg­ally valid.

These ele­ments come to­geth­er to form a Simple Will that com­mu­nic­ates your wishes, making it easy for your ex­ecut­or to dis­trib­ute your estate ac­cord­ing to your in­struc­tions.

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

A Tailored Will in a Simple Way

Answer a few simple ques­tions to get star­ted on your Will. Review re­com­men­ded terms and choose the in­her­it­ors for your Will.

When you create your Will in Aatos, you don't have to worry about print­ing, stor­ing or up­dat­ing it. Your Will is always ac­cess­ible and up to date.

Your tailored Will with Un­lim­ited Re­vi­sions and Stor­age £99. You'll also gain fast-track access to legal sup­port, en­sur­ing you re­ceive an­swers to all your legal needs at any time.

Be­ne­fits of a Simple Will

Simple wills are also the most cost-ef­fect­ive option when it comes to wills since they are quick to pre­pare and re­quire little to no be­spoke legal draft­ing.

Having a Simple Will brings peace of mind and clar­ity to your final wishes, making it easier for your loved ones to follow your in­struc­tions after you're gone. It en­sures your assets are dis­trib­uted ex­actly how you want, re­du­cing the risk of dis­putes among family mem­bers.

Plus, having a Simple Will can speed up the legal pro­cess, help­ing your be­ne­fi­ciar­ies re­ceive their in­her­it­ance more quickly.

Thanks to their straight­for­ward nature, Simple Wills are well-suited to adapt to life's changes, such as mar­riage, di­vorce, the birth of chil­dren or grand­chil­dren, or changes in fin­an­cial cir­cum­stances. Re­flect­ing new wishes does­n't re­quire ex­tens­ive over­hauls of the will and can be done fairly quickly and af­ford­ably.

💡 A Simple Will is straight­for­ward to create, es­pe­cially thanks to online will writ­ing ser­vices like Aatos.

How to Write a Simple Will?

Draft­ing a Simple Will is, well… simple! In your Will, you ought to detail every item, piece of prop­erty, and ac­count in your pos­ses­sion.

Writ­ing a simple Will in­volves a few key steps. First, clearly state that the doc­u­ment is your Will and identi­fy your­self with your full name and ad­dress. Next, ap­point an ex­ecut­or who will manage your estate, and spe­cify your be­ne­fi­ciar­ies along with the dis­tri­bu­tion of your assets.

Fi­nally, sign the Will in the pres­ence of two wit­nesses who also need to sign it, en­sur­ing they are not be­ne­fi­ciar­ies.

Below you can find tips on how to write a simple will.

Writ­ing a Simple Will:

1. List Your Assets: Start by making a list of your sig­ni­fic­ant assets like prop­erty, sav­ings, and per­son­al items that hold sen­ti­ment­al or mon­et­ary value.
2. Decide on Be­ne­fi­ciar­ies: Think about who you want to in­her­it your assets. These can be family mem­bers, friends, or even char­it­ies that are im­port­ant to you.
3. Choose an Ex­ecut­or: Pick a trus­ted person who will be re­spons­ible for making sure your wishes are fol­lowed. This should be someone you be­lieve will handle your estate re­spons­ibly.
4. Ap­point a Guard­i­an for Minors: If you have chil­dren under 18, decide who you would like to take care of them should some­thing happen to you.
5. Write Your Will: Com­bine the in­form­a­tion from steps 1-4 into your will. Be clear and pre­cise in your lan­guage to avoid any po­ten­tial con­fu­sion.
6. Sign and Wit­ness: For your will to be leg­ally valid, you must sign it in the pres­ence of two wit­nesses, who also need to sign it. These wit­nesses should not be be­ne­fi­ciar­ies of your Will. The Will should also be dated as soon as it is signed.
7. Store It Safely: Keep your Will in a secure place and inform your ex­ecut­or where it is. You might also con­sider leav­ing a copy with your so­li­cit­or or in an­oth­er secure loc­a­tion.

💡 Did you know that a Holo­graph­ic Will is an emer­gency Will?

How to Create a Will in a Simple Way?

Won­der­ing how to write a Simple Will? Aatos's online ser­vice makes draft­ing your Will a breeze, guid­ing every step of the pro­cess. It's ideal for anyone look­ing for some with basic Will cre­ation to draft a per­son­al­ised Will, en­sur­ing your final wishes are clearly out­lined.

Just answer a few simple ques­tions, and the ser­vice will provide you with per­son­al­ised re­com­mend­a­tions. Then, simply add your heirs, and you're ready to pro­ceed. Writ­ing a Will takes only 10 minutes in total.

With straight­for­ward in­struc­tions on wit­ness­ing re­quire­ments, Aatos also makes sure your doc­u­ment is leg­ally valid, of­fer­ing a con­veni­ent and re­li­able way to secure your legacy.

How Much Does a Simple Will Cost?

In the UK, the cost of draft­ing a Simple Will can vary widely de­pend­ing on wheth­er you choose to do it your­self, use an online legal ser­vice, or go through a so­li­cit­or. For a straight­for­ward Will, prices can range from very little to sev­er­al hun­dred pounds.

• Doing it your­self with a DIY Will kit from a sta­tion­ery store could cost as little as £10 to £30. However, this ap­proach re­quires a care­ful un­der­stand­ing of legal form­al­it­ies to ensure the Will is valid.
• If you opt for a tra­di­tion­al route with a so­li­cit­or, the price for a Simple Will could be any­where from £100 to £1,000. 
• Online legal ser­vices offer a middle ground, com­bin­ing af­ford­ab­il­ity with pro­fes­sion­al guid­ance. For ex­ample, Aatos is an online legal ser­vice that provides an easy-to-use plat­form for draft­ing a Simple Will. The cost through Aatos is £99, of­fer­ing a blend of con­veni­ence and as­sur­ance that the doc­u­ment will meet legal stand­ards. You'll get an access to all the legal doc­u­ments, di­git­al stor­age, and the legal help as­sists you always whenev­er you need it. It's also pos­sible to pur­chase the doc­u­ment in­di­vidu­ally.

It's es­sen­tial to choose the option that best suits your cir­cum­stances and en­sures that your final wishes are clearly and leg­ally doc­u­mented.

Read more about will stor­age.

Can a Simple Will is too Simple for Me?

A Simple Will often meets the needs of many in­di­vidu­als in the UK. It is par­tic­u­larly suit­able for those with straight­for­ward cir­cum­stances, such as home own­er­ship, mar­riage, chil­dren, and tra­di­tion­al sav­ings or pen­sion plans.

However, for those with more in­tric­ate es­tates or per­son­al situ­ations, a Simple Will might not provide the ne­ces­sary scope of cov­er­age.

Con­sider the fol­low­ing in­stances that may re­quire more nu­anced estate plan­ning:

• Ex­per­i­en­cing di­vorce or re­mar­riage
• Having stepchil­dren or chil­dren from a prior re­la­tion­ship
• Nav­ig­at­ing com­plex family dy­nam­ics, such as deal­ing with es­tranged re­l­at­ives
• Busi­ness own­er­ship
• Hold­ing prop­erty in abroad
• Pos­sess­ing sub­stan­tial assets with the intent to min­im­ise in­her­it­ance tax

If these con­di­tions re­flect your situ­ation, ex­plor­ing more de­tailed estate plan­ning op­tions, like es­tab­lish­ing a trust or en­ga­ging an estate so­li­cit­or, could better secure your es­tate's future.

💡 If you're unsure about which type of Will you need, don't worry. The Aatos Will ser­vice can help by re­com­mend­ing the most suit­able Will for your per­son­al needs.

Pro­tect­ing Your Legacy with a Simple Will

Writ­ing a Will is an es­sen­tial step to­wards pro­tect­ing your estate and en­sur­ing your wishes are hon­oured.

It's the key to peace of mind for you and your loved ones, and opting for a Simple Will is the most speedy and cost-ef­fect­ive option.

Read more

• What is a Leg­atee?