How to Write a Will: A Com­pre­hens­ive Guide

Writ­ing a Will is one of the most cru­cial steps to ensure your wishes are re­spec­ted and your loved ones are cared for after your passing. It provides clar­ity, se­cur­ity, and peace of mind for both you and your family.

A Will allows you to de­term­ine how your assets should be dis­trib­uted, ap­point guard­i­ans for minor chil­dren, and even make char­it­able dona­tions. Without a valid Will, your estate will be gov­erned by in­test­acy laws, which may result in out­comes you didn’t intend or desire.

Before you begin draft­ing your own Will, it’s im­port­ant to fa­mil­i­ar­ise your­self with the pro­cess of writ­ing a Will in the UK. This guide will walk you through the steps, of­fer­ing prac­tic­al advice to make the task straight­for­ward and stress-free.

Why Writ­ing a Will Mat­ters

A Will allows you to:

• Spe­cify how your assets will be dis­trib­uted.
• Ap­point guard­i­ans for minor chil­dren.
• Make char­it­able dona­tions.

Without a valid Will, your estate will be sub­ject to in­test­acy laws, which may lead to un­in­ten­ded out­comes and dis­putes among family mem­bers. Learn more about the im­plic­a­tions of dying without a Will in our art­icle on In­test­acy Rules.

💡 Did you know? Ac­cord­ing to The Na­tion­al Wills Report (2023), 42% of UK adults have never dis­cussed their wishes with loved ones, and 39% who haven't writ­ten a Will say they "haven’t got round to it yet."

Be­ne­fits of Writ­ing a Will

1. En­sures Your Final Wishes Are Re­spec­ted
   Spe­cify ex­actly who in­her­its your estate, avoid­ing con­fu­sion or con­flict.
2. Pro­tects Your Loved Ones
   Ap­point a guard­i­an for minor chil­dren and safe­guard spe­cif­ic assets like heir­looms or prop­er­ties.
3. Min­im­ises Tax Li­ab­il­it­ies
   A prop­erly draf­ted Will can reduce estate taxes, leav­ing more for your be­ne­fi­ciar­ies.
4. Pre­vents Family Dis­putes
   Clearly out­lining your in­ten­tions can min­im­ise the risk of con­flicts among your heirs.

💡 Fact: While only 44% of UK adults have writ­ten a Will, this rises to 66% among those aged 55 and over (The Na­tion­al Wills Report, 2023).

Create a Will Fully Online – Ready in 10 Minutes

With Aatos, writ­ing your Will has never been easier. Simply answer a few straight­for­ward ques­tions, add your heirs, and choose from re­com­men­ded con­di­tions. Your tailored Will is cre­ated in­stantly to meet your unique needs.

With Aatos, you’ll re­ceive:

• A prin­ted copy of your Last Will.
• Di­git­al stor­age.
• Un­lim­ited re­vi­sions.
• Free fast-track legal sup­port.
• Com­pre­hens­ive legal cov­er­age.

All this for just £99.

Try it for free today! Create a Will in as little as 10 minutes and take the first step toward se­cur­ing your family’s future.

Can I Write My Own Will without a So­li­cit­or?

Yes, even though 69% of Wills in the UK are writ­ten by a pro­fes­sion­al (The Na­tion­al Wills Report, 2023).

You can indeed write your Will without meet­ing with a so­li­cit­or, for in­stance, by util­ising online legal ser­vices like Aatos.

Aatos provides guid­ance to help you create a leg­ally valid Will from the com­fort of your own home. The ser­vice will ensure that your Will meets all legal re­quire­ments and ac­cur­ately re­flects your wishes.

Online ser­vices, like Aatos, offer both con­veni­ence and po­ten­tial sav­ings. However, for those with more com­plex es­tates or in need of spe­cif­ic legal advice, Aatos's so­li­cit­ors are avail­able to assist through a free chat ser­vice, en­sur­ing that even more in­tric­ate con­cerns can be ad­dressed ef­fect­ively.

Writ­ing a Will en­tirely on your own from scratch is not ad­vis­able for sev­er­al reas­ons.

1. A Will must comply with spe­cif­ic legal re­quire­ments to be valid, and these re­quire­ments can vary by jur­is­dic­tion. Without legal ex­pert­ise, you may miss es­sen­tial legal form­al­it­ies, such as proper wit­ness sig­na­tures or the cor­rect de­clar­a­tion lan­guage, which could render the Will in­val­id.
2. The lan­guage used in Wills needs to be pre­cise and un­am­bigu­ous. In­ac­cur­ate lan­guage can lead to dis­putes among be­ne­fi­ciar­ies, po­ten­tially lead­ing to lengthy and costly legal battles.
3. A self-writ­ten Will might not ad­equately ad­dress com­plex issues such as the dis­tri­bu­tion of di­git­al assets, guard­i­an­ship of minors, or tax im­plic­a­tions, which could lead to un­in­ten­ded con­sequences for the estate and its be­ne­fi­ciar­ies.

Using a legal ser­vice, such as Aatos, en­sures that your Will is leg­ally robust, re­flects your wishes ac­cur­ately, and con­siders all rel­ev­ant legal and fin­an­cial as­pects.

💡 Only adults over 18 and of sound mind can write a Last Will in the UK.

Dif­fer­ent Types of Writ­ten Wills Exist

There are dif­fer­ent types of Wills to choose from, de­pend­ing on your needs. The best type of Will for you de­pends on how com­plex your estate is, your family struc­ture, and your per­son­al pref­er­ences.

Three of the Most Common Types of Last Wills:

• Simple Will: the simplest type of Will and is suit­able for people with un­com­plic­ated es­tates. It states who you want your assets to go to and names an ex­ecut­or to carry out your wishes. It may also name guard­i­ans for minor chil­dren.
• Joint Will: a single Will for two people, such as spouses or part­ners. It states that when one person dies, their assets go to the other person. When both people have died, the assets are then dis­trib­uted to the be­ne­fi­ciar­ies named in the Will.
• Living Will: not a tra­di­tion­al Will, but it is a legal doc­u­ment that states your wishes for med­ic­al treat­ment and end-of-life care if you become in­ca­pa­cit­ated and cannot com­mu­nic­ate your wishes.

💡 Dis­cre­tion­ary Trust Will gives the heirs a cer­tain flex­ib­il­ity on how your estate can be handled after you die.

Write Your Wishes Clear in Your Last Will

As the test­ator, you have the legal right to ex­clude almost anyone from your Will or leave them a min­im­al in­her­it­ance. You can dis­tribute your assets as you see fit.

For ex­ample, you may have an es­tranged re­la­tion­ship with a family member and might choose not to in­clude them in your Will. Al­tern­at­ively, you might choose to pri­or­it­ise heirs based on need rather than di­vid­ing assets equally. That means you may choose to in­clude a family member with fin­an­cial hard­ships in your Will.

On the other hand, some in­di­vidu­als may decide to leave a sub­stan­tial por­tion of their estate to char­it­able or­gan­is­a­tions or causes they sup­port, re­du­cing the amount left to family mem­bers.

⚠️ Ex­er­cise cau­tion when con­sid­er­ing free Will tem­plates that you have found on the In­ternet. A basic tem­plate might not fulfil your wishes. An un­clear Last Will can cause un­ne­ces­sary dis­putes among the re­l­at­ivesHow Do You Write Your Will?

Be aware if you are writ­ing a Last Will on your own that un­clear Will can Lead to Legal Chal­lenges. Whichever Will you choose to write, it's es­sen­tial to be clear and spe­cif­ic to avoid mis­un­der­stand­ings or po­ten­tial legal chal­lenges.

If you intend to ex­clude a family member or limit their in­her­it­ance, con­sult a so­li­citor to ensure that your wishes are leg­ally ex­pressed.

Prop­erly doc­u­ment­ing your in­ten­tions can help pre­vent dis­putes among sur­viv­ing family mem­bers and min­im­ise the risk of your will being con­tested in the future.

When draft­ing your Will:

1. Identi­fy Your Assets: In­clude everything from prop­erty to di­git­al assets.
2. Choose Ex­ecut­ors: Select trust­worthy in­di­vidu­als to manage your estate.
3. Ap­point Guard­i­ans: If you have minor chil­dren, ensure their care is planned.
4. Detail Your Wishes: Be pre­cise about who in­her­its what to avoid dis­putes.

Read more: Con­test­ing a Will in the UK

Will Writ­ing and Wit­nesses

Having wit­nesses present when you sign your Will is es­sen­tial to make it leg­ally valid. This is known as at­test­a­tion, and it provides in­de­pend­ent veri­fic­a­tion that the Will is genu­ine and that you were of sound mind when you signed it.

The number of wit­nesses re­quired and spe­cif­ic wit­ness­ing rules vary de­pend­ing on the laws of your coun­try or state.

In gen­er­al, most jur­is­dic­tions (in­clud­ing Eng­land) re­quire at least two wit­nesses to be present when you sign your Will, and the wit­nesses must also sign the doc­u­ment.

There are a few things to keep in mind when choos­ing wit­nesses for your Will.

Cri­ter­ia for the Wit­nesses

• Must be over the age of 18 and of sound mind
• Cannot be be­ne­fi­ciar­ies of your Will or their spouses or part­ners
• Must be present at the same time when you sign the Will, and they must all sign the doc­u­ment in your pres­ence

⚠️ It is im­port­ant to choose wit­nesses who you trust and who are re­li­able. They should also be able to un­der­stand the im­port­ance of their role and be will­ing to testi­fy in court if ne­ces­sary.

Ensure the Stor­age of a Writ­ten Will

Once you have writ­ten your Last Will, it is im­port­ant to store your Will in a safe and secure place where it can be easily found after your death.

Places to Store a Last Will

• With Your So­li­citor: Many so­li­cit­ors offer to store Wills for their cli­ents, either free of charge or for a small fee. This can be a con­veni­ent option, as your so­li­citor will be able to ensure that your Will is prop­erly ex­ecuted and stored in ac­cord­ance with the law.
• With a Trus­ted Friend or Family Member: If you do not have a so­li­citor, or if you prefer to keep your Will private, you can store it with a trus­ted friend or family member. However, it is im­port­ant to choose someone who is re­li­able and who un­der­stands the im­port­ance of the doc­u­ment.
• In a Safe De­posit Box: Stor­ing your Will in a safe de­posit box is an­oth­er option, but it is im­port­ant to note that your ex­ecut­or will need to have access to the box in order to re­trieve the Will after your death.
• At Home: If you choose to store your Will at home, be sure to keep it in a safe place where it is un­likely to be dam­aged or lost. You may want to con­sider stor­ing it in a fire­proof safe or lock­box.

No matter where you choose to store your Will, it is im­port­ant to let your ex­ecut­or know where it is loc­ated. You may also want to con­sider giving them a copy of the Will for their re­cords.

💡The most common place to store a Will in the UK is at Home. 47% of UK adults with a writ­ten Will store their Last Will at home.

Read more: Suc­cess Rate of Con­test­ing a Will in the UK

Sources

The Na­tion­al Wills Report (2023) “The Cul­ture of Will Writ­ing in the UK”.

Read more

• The Es­sen­tial Guide to Making a Will
• What You Should Never Put in Your Will in UK?
• Can an Ex­ecut­or of a Will be a Be­ne­fi­ciary?
• How Much Does It Cost to Make a Will?