How to write your own will: templates, the legal rules and what goes wrong
You can legally write your own will in England and Wales. The formal rules it must meet, what templates cover, and the mistakes that cause problems later.
Can you write your own will in England and Wales?
Yes, you can. No law requires a will to be drawn up by a solicitor or a professional will writer, and the Competition and Markets Authority's consumer guide to will writing services says plainly that anyone in the UK can write a will, whether that is you or a business you pay. GOV.UK agrees that you can write it yourself, whilst adding that you should get advice if your will is not straightforward.
The conditions that apply to you, rather than to the document, are about age and state of mind. Section 7 of the Wills Act 1837 says a will made by anyone under 18 is not valid, the one exception being the old rule in section 11 for soldiers on active service and sailors at sea, and GOV.UK adds that you must make it voluntarily and be of sound mind. The courts still judge capacity by a test from 1870, which the Law Commission summarises as understanding that you are making a will and what it does, the extent of what you own and who has a claim on your estate, without your judgement being distorted by a disorder of the mind. Where illness or memory problems might raise doubts later, professionals preparing wills have a best-practice rule on when capacity should be assessed and by whom, a safeguard a homemade will does not have.
What makes a will legally valid?
A will is valid only if it meets the formal requirements in section 9 of the Wills Act 1837, and one that misses any of them fails however clear your wishes are. It must be in writing and signed by you, or by someone signing in your presence and at your direction if you cannot sign, and it must appear that you intended your signature to give effect to the will. You must make or acknowledge that signature in the presence of two or more witnesses who are present at the same time, after which each witness signs, or acknowledges their signature, in your presence, though not necessarily in front of the other witness. No particular form of words is required for the witnessing section.
Witnessing is one of the steps MoneyHelper lists among common DIY mistakes. GOV.UK adds that you and your witnesses must sign the same document with a clear view of each other signing, and under section 15 of the Act a gift to a witness, or to the witness's spouse or civil partner, fails even though the rest of the will stands, whereas being an executor does not by itself stop someone acting as a witness, provided they receive nothing under the will. In England and Wales, witnessing by video was only ever allowed for wills made between 31 January 2020 and 31 January 2024, so a will signed now needs both witnesses with you in person. Our guide to who can witness a will covers the rules in full, including whether relatives can sign and what happens when witnessing goes wrong.
What does a will normally cover?
Most wills follow a similar order, and knowing the parts helps you judge whether a template fits your situation. Drawing on GOV.UK and the Law Society's public guidance on making a will, a typical will deals with the following.
Revoking earlier wills: a statement that the will cancels all previous wills and codicils.
Executors: the people who will deal with your estate. The Law Society notes that most people appoint two, that up to four is possible and that you should have at least a second in case the first cannot act.
Guardians: who should look after any children under 18.
Gifts: particular items or sums to particular people, and any charity gift, which the Law Society says should give the charity's full name, address and registered number.
The residue: everything left once debts, tax, costs and gifts have been dealt with, together with who takes it if a beneficiary dies before you.
The residue matters because any part of your estate the will does not dispose of passes under the intestacy rules, which section 49 of the Administration of Estates Act 1925 applies to whatever a will leaves out. Our guide to the residuary estate explains how it is worked out and what happens when a share of it fails.
What are will templates and will kits, and where do they fall short?
A will template or kit is a document with the standard sections already set out, so you fill in the names, gifts and executors and then sign it following the instructions. MoneyHelper's guide to DIY wills (checked in November 2026) says they are sold in stationery shops and online, usually for up to £30, and suggests choosing one that already contains the standard sections and legal terms, because established phrasing is less likely to be misread and a badly worded will can end up being ignored in part or failing altogether.
The main limit is that nobody stands behind the result, because MoneyHelper points out that a template supplier accepts no liability for whether the finished will is valid, which means an ambiguous gift or a signing error only comes to light after your death, when nobody can ask you what you meant. The CMA adds that some online services draft the will for you whilst others simply provide a template you complete through a form, so it is worth asking which you are buying and getting the answer in writing.
What goes wrong with homemade wills?
Most problems come from a handful of avoidable errors, and the Law Society notes that it is your executor who has to sort them out, sometimes paying legal costs that reduce the estate, whilst some errors make the will invalid altogether.
Witnessing incorrectly: MoneyHelper names getting the witnessing wrong as a common DIY mistake, since it takes two independent adults who are present together, and if a beneficiary, or their spouse or civil partner, acts as a witness, the gift to that beneficiary fails.
Writing on the will after signing: section 21 of the Wills Act 1837 says an alteration made after the will was signed generally has no effect unless it is itself signed and witnessed like a will, and GOV.UK says the way to change a signed will is a codicil, or a new will for bigger changes. Our guide to changing a will sets out both routes.
Leaving the residue unclear: gifts of particular items are easy to write, but a will that does not say who receives everything else leaves that part to the intestacy rules.
Vague names: MoneyHelper warns about misspelt names and suggests using a spouse's full name rather than a phrase such as "my wife".
Not updating after marriage: under sections 18 and 18B of the Act, marrying or forming a civil partnership revokes an existing will unless the will shows it was made expecting that particular marriage or partnership and was meant to survive it, so a will made before the wedding can stop working without anyone realising.
Forgetting that people may die first: a gift to someone who has already died generally fails unless the will names a substitute, or section 33 of the Act passes a gift to your child or grandchild on to their own descendants.
When is a DIY will reasonable, and when is advice worth paying for?
A DIY will is most likely to work when your estate is simple and your wishes are clear. MoneyHelper's example is a married person leaving everything to their spouse, or to their children if the spouse dies first, and it suggests professional help for anything more involved, such as stepchildren or a couple who are not married. The Law Society suggests that even a straightforward homemade will is worth having checked by a solicitor.
GOV.UK's guidance on writing your will suggests advice if you share a home with someone you are not married to or in a civil partnership with, want to provide for a dependant who cannot look after themselves, may face claims from family such as a second spouse and children from an earlier marriage, live permanently outside the UK, own property abroad or own a business. MoneyHelper adds reducing inheritance tax and holding foreign investments. Wanting to leave someone out belongs on the same list in practice, because certain relatives and dependants can ask the court for reasonable financial provision under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, which our guide to contesting a will explains.
If you do pay for help, the CMA explains that will writing is not reserved to regulated professionals, so a will writer need not be a solicitor. A regulated firm brings a route to the Legal Ombudsman, whilst unregulated will writers may belong to a self-regulatory body such as the Society of Will Writers or the Institute of Professional Willwriters. Our guide to how much a will costs compares the routes, and our guide to free wills covers charity-run schemes for simple wills.
Can you make a will online or sign it electronically?
You can use an online service or a downloaded template to prepare the wording, but in England and Wales the finished will still has to meet section 9, and the Law Commission's summary of its Modernising Wills Law report notes that the 1837 Act does not cater for electronic wills and that whether one could be valid under the current rules is not clear, which is why the safe course is a printed will signed in front of two witnesses who are physically present.
In that report, published on 16 May 2025, the Law Commission recommended that electronic wills should be capable of being valid where a reliable system links the signature to the person and protects the will from alteration, with witnesses able to attend by video call. These are recommendations only, because the Law Commission says it is for the Government to decide whether to implement them, so until Parliament changes the law the 1837 rules apply.
How is it different in Scotland and Northern Ireland?
Scotland has its own rules, and according to mygov.scot you can make a will there from the age of 12, it must be in writing and signed at the bottom of the last page, and a witness is not needed for it to be valid, although signing every page and having one witness watch you sign the last page, and then sign it too, makes the will "self-proving", so a court will usually accept it without further evidence. Scotland also gives a spouse, civil partner and children fixed "legal rights" to part of your moveable property, such as money and belongings, even if your will leaves them nothing.
In Northern Ireland the Wills and Administration Proceedings (Northern Ireland) Order 1994 requires two witnesses present at the same time, as in England and Wales, although the minimum age of 18 does not apply to someone who is or has been married or in a civil partnership. nidirect says you can write a will yourself but that using a solicitor is advisable because of the legal formalities, so a template written for England and Wales is not a safe guide in either place.
How to write a will yourself: the steps in order
List what you own and owe, including property, accounts, pensions and policies, so you can see what the will has to deal with.
Choose your executors and any guardians, and ask them before you name them.
Use a template with standard wording, or have the will drafted, and check that it disposes of the whole residue and names substitutes.
Check every name and description, including a charity's registered number.
Sign in front of two adult witnesses who are both present and are not beneficiaries or married to or in a civil partnership with one, and have each of them sign in your presence.
Keep the original somewhere safe and tell your executor, or a close friend or relative, where it is.
Review the will every five years and after a major change, which GOV.UK says includes marriage, divorce, a new child, moving house or the death of an executor.
When someone dies, their executors have to find and tell every bank, utility, insurer and subscription they held, which is far easier when the person left a clear record of their accounts alongside the will. If that work does fall to your family, Legacy Trail's free notification service can contact the private-sector companies for them.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. In England and Wales a will does not have to be drawn up by a solicitor, and it is valid if it meets the formal rules in section 9 of the Wills Act 1837. The Law Society still suggests having even a simple homemade will checked, because your executor would be the one left to deal with any mistakes.
A handwritten will can be valid in England and Wales if you sign it in front of two witnesses who are present at the same time and who then sign it in your presence. MoneyHelper notes that in theory this is true even of a will written on scrap paper, whilst being clear that it does not recommend one. In Scotland a signed will can be valid without a witness, but having it witnessed means a court will usually accept it without further evidence.
They can, provided the finished will is signed and witnessed correctly and the wording genuinely covers your estate, including the residue. MoneyHelper points out that a template supplier accepts no liability for whether the finished will is valid, so any error is left for your executors to resolve.
An invalid will has no effect, so an earlier will that you had not revoked may apply instead, or, if there is none, the intestacy rules decide who inherits. Under those rules an unmarried partner inherits nothing, however long you lived together.
You must be 18 or over in England and Wales under section 7 of the Wills Act 1837, apart from a narrow exception for soldiers on active service and sailors at sea, and the same age applies in Northern Ireland unless you are or have been married or in a civil partnership. In Scotland the minimum age is 12. The Law Commission has recommended lowering the age in England and Wales to 16, but that is a proposal and not the law.
This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Individual circumstances vary. If you are dealing with an estate, consider taking advice from a solicitor who specialises in probate. For other guidance specific to your circumstances, speak to a funeral director, Citizens Advice, or a regulated financial adviser.