Writing a will is one of the most important financial tasks you can do, yet it sits grimly near the bottom of most to-do lists. It is estimated that nearly half of UK adults — and over half of US adults — still don’t have one. Without a will, the law decides who inherits your money, your property, and even who raises your children. The reassurance: drafting one does not have to cost hundreds of pounds. Free templates and affordable online services handle straightforward estates comfortably, and a solicitor is only strictly necessary when life gets complicated. This guide runs through every option, what the document must contain, and how to spot the moment DIY stops being enough.
Why a will is not optional
If you die without a will, you die intestate — the statute book becomes your estate planner, and it almost never mirrors your wishes.
| Country | Intestacy rules | Consequences of no will |
|---|---|---|
| UK | Spouse/civil partner gets the first £322,000 plus half of the remainder; children split the other half. No spouse means children split everything equally, then parents, siblings and grandparents in turn. | Common-law partners have no automatic right, guardians are court-chosen, tax-planning is lost |
| US | Varies by state: typically spouse inherits everything if there are no children; with children, spouse takes one-third to one-half and children split the rest, then parents and siblings. | Court costs, delays, family disputes, and probate rules that vary by state |
| Canada | Varies by province: in most, the spouse takes a first portion (e.g. first $50,000 in Ontario) plus a share of the remainder; children split the rest, and a court-appointed administrator runs the estate. | Administrator fees, delays, and provincial rules you never chose |
The practical sting of intestacy is personal. Your unmarried partner may inherit nothing — common-law partners in the UK and many Canadian provinces have no automatic right to your estate. Guardians for your children are chosen by a court, not by you. Your estate can be divided in ways you would never choose, and any chance to structure gifts to minimise tax disappears. A will is the document that restores your authorship of all of it.
Making a will for free
For straightforward estates, genuinely free routes exist. In the UK, Which? offers a free will-writing template — fill it in online or download and complete it at home — and Citizens Advice provides free guidance on the whole process where circumstances are simple. LawWorks and legal-aid clinics write free wills for vulnerable or low-income individuals, and many solicitors take on pro-bono work during Free Wills Month (March and October in the UK) for people aged 55 or over. In the US, several states publish free statutory will forms on their probate courts’ websites, legal-aid societies sometimes draft wills for free, and some employers and unions include basic will templates as an employment perk. In Canada, certain provinces offer free will kits through government sites and community legal clinics serve low-income residents.
Cheap online services that get it right
If you want a professional review at a modest price, the current UK market is well served. Farewill charges from £100 for a single will (£160 for a mirror will covering both partners), fully online with human professionals reviewing your answers. Co-op Legal Services starts at £120 for a single will from a well-established provider, Which? Wills at £99, and Golding Lawyers at £99 for a simple will. TSB and Barclays customers sometimes get discounted or free wills through bank partnerships, so check before paying. Comparable services exist elsewhere: in the US, TurboTax’s WillMaker & Trust (from £49 per year) bundles a will, living trust, healthcare directive and power of attorney; Nolo sells DIY software from £35; LegalZoom packages a basic will from £69; and Trust & Will offers an online will from £59. Canadian services include Willful (from £99 basic, or $149 CAD for the comprehensive package, available across provinces), Epilogue Wills from £99, and LegalWills from £29 for the bare-bones version. Whichever you choose, the value lies in the guided questionnaire catching omissions you would have missed.
What actually goes into a will
A complete will covers five essentials. Assets to distribute: property (homes, land, rentals), bank and savings accounts, investments including ISAs and pension-nomination forms don’t count — 401(k)s in the US — vehicles, jewellery, life insurance policies and business interests. Guardians for children: if your children are under 18, name who will raise them; otherwise a court decides and it may not be who you choose. An executor: the person who carries out your instructions — choose someone trustworthy, organised and willing, and you may name more than one. Specific gifts: cash gifts (“£5,000 to my niece Sarah”), specific items (“my watch collection to my son James”) and the residuary estate — everything left over, split between your chosen beneficiaries. Funeral wishes: not legally binding in most jurisdictions, but they guide your family on burial versus cremation and the kind of service you wanted.
Worth adding while you are there: a substitute executor in case your first choice can’t serve, gifts conditional on age (money held in trust until a beneficiary turns 25, for example), charitable bequests that can also reduce inheritance tax, and pet care instructions so no one needs to guess who takes the dog.
The rules differ — UK vs US vs Canada
Validity rules rhyme but the details vary. Everywhere the will must be in writing, signed by you, and witnessed — in the UK two witnesses must both be present when you sign and must not be beneficiaries; US states typically require two witnesses and some allow “self-proving” wills notarised to speed probate; Canadian provinces set their own witness rules. Registration is optional in all three: you can deposit a will with the UK Probate Registry, file it with the US probate court after death, or probate it province by province in Canada.
Some traps are country-specific. In the UK, you can write a will from age 12 (most wait rather longer), marriage or civil partnership revokes a previous will unless it said otherwise, and crucially divorce does not revoke one — your ex-spouse may still inherit without an updated will. US wills need explicit provisions for digital assets such as online accounts and cryptocurrency. Canadian wills face provincial differences: Quebec uses civil rather than common law, so wills work differently there; some provinces have “dependent’s relief” legislation allowing dependants to challenge a will even if they are not mentioned; and property in several provinces may need re-probating in each one. A solicitor familiar with your country answers all of this quietly.
When DIY stops being enough
A template will is fine for the common case. See a solicitor instead if you have a complex estate — multiple properties, a business, overseas assets or significant wealth; a blended family with children from different relationships, stepchildren or complicated dynamics; overseas property, which usually means separate wills in different countries; dependants with special needs requiring trusts; any realistic chance of the will being contested; an estate near the inheritance tax threshold; a business to pass on; or simply the desire for a trust built into the document. Each of these turns a half-hour template into a professional drafting job, and the fee buys silence on disputes later.
Getting it written, witnessed and stored
The process is short once you commit. List your assets and debts; decide precisely who gets what; choose your executor — and ask them first; pick the free, cheap or professional route that fits; then write, sign and witness in the right order — you sign first, the witnesses second, and they should be over 18 and not beneficiaries. Store the signed original somewhere your executor can find it, and consider registering it with a will storage service. Then review every three to five years, or after marriage, divorce, a new child or a house purchase. Do not assume your partner automatically inherits — without a will (or a qualifying cohabitation agreement in some jurisdictions) they don’t — and do not forget the digital assets in your instructions.
Bottom line
A will is one of those things that costs a little now to save your family a great deal later. Whether you fill in Which?’s free template, pay Farewill £100 for a reviewed version, or hand a blended-family estate to a solicitor, the act of writing it restores control the intestacy rules would otherwise take away. Don’t put it off.