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Estate Planning Specialists

15 articles

Making a Will

Practical guides on making a will for UK executors and families dealing with probate.

  • Making a Will

    Legal Rights in Scotland: Why You Cannot Fully Disinherit Your Family

    Scotland does not have full testamentary freedom. A surviving spouse or civil partner, and the children, hold legal rights: an automatic entitlement to a fixed fraction of the net moveable estate that a will cannot remove. The fraction is one third each where both a spouse and children survive, or one half where only one of those groups survives. Crucially, legal rights bite only on moveable property such as money, investments, vehicles and contents. Land and buildings, the heritable estate, are outside them entirely, which is why two families with identical wealth can end up with completely different outcomes. This guide sets out the fractions, what happens when a child has died first, the choice between legal rights and a legacy, and the 20 year time limit.

    8 min read

  • Making a Will

    Blended Families and Unmarried Partners: Who Actually Inherits, and How a Will Fixes It

    The intestacy rules of England and Wales recognise marriage, civil partnership, blood and legal adoption, and nothing else. A stepchild you raised from the age of three and a partner you have lived with for twenty years both receive nothing automatically if you die without a will. This guide sets out exactly how an estate divides when a blended family or cohabiting couple relies on the default rules, why the common-law marriage idea is a myth, and the specific will structures, including life interest and property protection trusts, that let you provide for a new partner and children from different relationships at the same time.

    7 min read

  • Making a Will

    Finding a Solicitor or Will Writer Near You: What to Check First

    If you have searched for an estate planning attorney, the UK equivalents are a wills and probate solicitor or a professional will writer. The two are regulated very differently. Solicitors are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, carry compulsory insurance and give you a route to the Legal Ombudsman if things go wrong. Will writing itself is not a reserved legal activity, so anyone can offer it; the main will-writing bodies are voluntary. This guide explains how to check credentials before you hand over your instructions.

    4 min read

  • Making a Will

    Guardianship Clauses for Children in a Will: How to Get Them Right

    A guardianship clause in a will names the person you want to raise your children if you die while they are under 18. The legal basis is section 5 of the Children Act 1989, and the rule most parents misunderstand is that the appointment does not override a surviving parent: in most cases it only takes effect once no parent with parental responsibility is alive. This guide explains who can appoint a guardian, when the appointment actually bites, how divorce and new wills revoke it, and why the clause needs a trust for money and a letter of wishes alongside it to do its job properly.

    8 min read

  • Making a Will

    How Much Does It Cost to Make a Will? UK Price Guide

    A will costs whatever the drafting route costs, because the document itself carries no statutory fee. DIY templates run from about £10 to £30, online will-writing services typically £50 to £150, and a solicitor-drafted single will commonly £300 to £1,000 or more, with trust and cross-border wills above that. Free routes exist through charity schemes and some employee benefits. None of these are regulated prices, because will-writing is not a reserved legal activity and no firm is required to publish its fees, so this guide sets out the bands, the add-ons that are quoted separately, and how to work out which route your own circumstances actually need.

    9 min read

  • Making a Will

    How to Make a Will in the UK: Steps, Costs and Choosing the Right Route

    Making a will in the UK comes down to seven steps: value what you own, decide who gets it, choose executors, name guardians for young children, draft the document, sign it in front of two independent witnesses, and store it safely. You can do this through a DIY template, an online will-writing service or a solicitor, at costs ranging from under £30 to £1,000 or more. The legal validity requirements are the same whichever route you take. This hub guide walks through the whole process, compares the three routes honestly, and sets out when doing it yourself is perfectly safe and when it is a false economy.

    7 min read

  • Making a Will

    Letters of Wishes Explained: What They Can and Cannot Do

    A letter of wishes is a private, informal document kept alongside your will. It is not legally binding, so it cannot give anything away or override what the will says, but it gives your executors, trustees and any guardians the context the will itself leaves out: why you made certain choices, how you would like discretionary trust funds used, who should receive sentimental items, and how you hope children will be raised. This guide explains what a letter of wishes can and cannot do, and how to keep one useful.

    4 min read

  • Making a Will

    Making a Will Online or for Free: What You Need to Know

    You can make a legally valid will in the UK without paying a solicitor's full fee, and in several cases without paying anything at all. Will Aid runs every November, Free Wills Month serves the over 55s in March and October, many charities fund free simple wills year round, and some trade unions include will writing in membership. Online services fill the gap for modest budgets. This guide sets out each free route, what online will services actually provide, and the situations where a free or DIY will is a false economy.

    4 min read

  • Making a Will

    Mental Capacity, Dementia and Will Validity: What the Law Actually Tests

    A dementia diagnosis does not automatically invalidate a will in England and Wales. The law tests testamentary capacity, the ability to understand what a will does, what you own and who might expect to inherit, at the time the will is made, and capacity is presumed unless there is real evidence otherwise. This guide explains the four-part capacity test from case law, how the Mental Capacity Act 2005 fits alongside it, why lucid intervals count, the 'golden rule' medical assessment solicitors use for elderly or ill will-makers, and the Court of Protection statutory will route once capacity has genuinely gone.

    8 min read

  • Making a Will

    Mirror Wills vs Mutual Wills: What's the Difference?

    Mirror wills and mutual wills sound almost identical, but they behave in opposite ways when one partner dies. Mirror wills are two matching but independent wills that either person can change at any time, including after the first death. Mutual wills add a binding agreement not to revoke, which the courts enforce through a constructive trust over the survivor's estate. That single difference decides whether the survivor keeps their freedom or is locked in for life, and it is the reason most couples are steered towards mirror wills with trust protections rather than mutual wills.

    4 min read

  • Making a Will

    Pets and Inheritance: Providing for Pets in Your Will

    Under the law of England and Wales a pet is legally an item of property, so you cannot leave money directly to a pet in your will. What you can do is leave the pet itself, plus a cash legacy, to a person you trust to care for it, or register with one of the free rehoming schemes run by animal charities. This short guide explains both routes, what happens to a pet if your will says nothing about it, and how a gift to an animal charity interacts with inheritance tax.

    4 min read

  • Making a Will

    Video Witnessing of Wills: Why the Covid Rule Has Expired

    During the pandemic, a temporary change to the Wills Act 1837 allowed wills in England and Wales to be witnessed over video link. That provision covered wills made between 31 January 2020 and 31 January 2024 and has now expired. A will signed today must be witnessed by two people who are physically present, in the same room, with a clear view of the signing. Wills that were validly video-witnessed during the window remain valid. This guide explains what the temporary rule was, why it ended, and what the witnessing requirements are now.

    4 min read
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