Not sure what to look for? When comparing will writing services, these are the key things worth checking:
- Regulation: SRA (Solicitors Regulation Authority) regulation offers the strongest consumer protection — mandatory professional indemnity insurance, access to the Legal Ombudsman, and a statutory code of conduct. Some non-SRA services are members of the Institute of Professional Willwriters (IPW) or Society of Will Writers (SWW), which have their own codes of practice and require indemnity insurance, but these are self-regulatory bodies rather than statutory regulators. Completely unregulated services offer the least recourse if something goes wrong.
- Expert review: Does a qualified person actually check your will, or are you just filling in a template? Some services only offer legal review on premium tiers.
- What's included in the price: Watch for extras — storage fees, update charges, executor services, and LPAs are often sold separately.
- How you'll interact: Online-only suits simple estates. If your situation is complicated (blended family, business interests, overseas assets), phone or face-to-face support may be important.
- Updates and aftercare: Life changes — marriages, births, divorces, house moves. Check whether updates are free, charged per change, or require a subscription.
- Complexity they can handle: Most online services are designed for straightforward wills. If you need trusts, tax planning, or multi-jurisdictional advice, check whether the service can accommodate that before you start.
Will Writing Service Comparison
| Feature | Octopus Legacy | Farewill | Co-op Legal | Which? Wills | Kwil |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single Will | £100–150 | £100 | From £149 | £99–169 | Free – £150 |
| Couple's Will | £250 | £160 | From £249 | £156–269 | Free – £290 |
| SRA Regulated | Subsidiary only | ✗ No | ✓ Fully | Premium tier | ✗ No |
| Expert Legal Review | ✓ All wills | ✓ All wills | ✓ Solicitor | Premium only | Premium only |
| Will Storage | See terms | Not included | ✓ Free lifetime | See terms | Online Lockbox |
| Updates | Free yr 1, £10/yr | £10/yr | Extra fee | Via membership | ✓ Free lifetime |
| Face-to-Face | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Telephone Service | ✓ | ✓ (from £240) | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ (from £175) |
| Trusts / Complex | From £450 | Limited | ✓ Full | ✗ | Via add-on |
| LPAs | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ (from £120) | ✗ | ✓ |
| Charity Free Wills | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Trustpilot Score | 4.7★ (1,800) | 4.9★ (20,000+) | 4.5★ (10,000+) | 3.3★ (379) | 4.3★ (700) |
Common Pitfalls Most Guides Won't Tell You
The internet is full of will writing advice, but most of it rehashes the same generic tips. Here are the mistakes that actually catch people out — the ones solicitors see in their offices every week.
The Joint Property Trap
If you own your home as joint tenants, your share automatically passes to the surviving owner — regardless of what your will says. This catches blended families especially hard. A couple may each want their half to go to their own children, but joint tenancy overrides the will entirely. The fix is to sever the joint tenancy and hold as tenants in common — this is a legal process that must be properly documented with a notice served on the other owner. Most budget will services won't spot this or advise you to do it, and almost none handle the severance itself.
The DIY Witness Problem
A will must be signed in the presence of two independent witnesses who are not beneficiaries and not married to beneficiaries. This sounds simple, but "independent" trips people up: your neighbour who you're leaving your car to cannot witness. If they do, the gift to them is void — but the rest of the will may still stand, creating a partial mess that's expensive to unravel.
Marriage Automatically Revokes Your Will
Under English law, getting married revokes any existing will unless it was made "in contemplation of marriage." Many people write a will, then marry years later and assume the will still stands. It doesn't. You die intestate. Divorce, by contrast, doesn't revoke the will — it merely excludes your ex-spouse as a beneficiary, which can create its own unexpected distribution headaches.
Pension Death Benefits — The £250k Blind Spot
Your pension does not pass under your will. Most defined contribution pensions are paid out at the discretion of the pension trustees, based on a separate "expression of wish" form. For many families, the pension pot is worth more than the house — yet they've never filled in the form. Check with your pension provider today, not when you write your will. Note: older defined benefit (final salary) pensions may have different rules — always check with your specific scheme.
The Seven-Year Gift Rule — Misunderstood
The £3,000 annual exemption is always free of inheritance tax, regardless of when you die. Above that, Potentially Exempt Transfers (PETs) only become taxable if you die within seven years and the cumulative total of gifts in that period exceeds the nil-rate band (currently £325,000). Taper relief then reduces the rate progressively from 40% down to 8% depending on how many years you survived. Gifts with a "reservation of benefit" — like giving your house to your children while still living in it — sit outside this framework and remain fully taxable regardless of timing. Most online will services don't flag this distinction.
What to Gather Before Writing Your Will
Save yourself time (and money) by having all of this ready before your appointment or online session.
- Property details: Address, how it's owned (sole, joint tenants, tenants in common), mortgage balance, estimated value
- Bank accounts & savings: Each institution, approximate balances, any joint accounts
- Investments: ISAs, shares, bonds, crypto wallets — and who holds them
- Pensions: Provider names and approximate values. Critically: who is your current expression of wish nominee?
- Life insurance policies: Provider, sum assured, whether they're written in trust (if yes, they bypass the will and IHT)
- Business interests: Company name, your shareholding percentage, partnership agreements, any shareholder agreements with pre-emption rights
- Overseas assets: Any property, bank accounts, or investments held outside England & Wales
- Debts: Mortgages, loans, credit cards — these are deducted from the estate before distribution
- Digital assets: Online accounts with monetary value (PayPal, crypto), domain names, digital media libraries
- Gifts in the last 7 years: Any substantial gifts to individuals (for inheritance tax calculation)
- Family details: Full names and dates of birth of spouse/partner, children (including stepchildren), any dependants, and anyone you wish to exclude (and why)
- Chosen executors: At least two people who agree to act. Consider: are they younger than you? Willing? Competent with paperwork?
- Guardians for children under 18: Full name, relationship, and confirm they've agreed
- Funeral wishes: Burial or cremation, any specific instructions
Valuations & Consultations
Property Valuations
For inheritance tax purposes, HMRC expects a market value at the date of death, not what you paid or what Zoopla says. If you own property worth more than the nil-rate band (£325,000, or £500,000 with the residence nil-rate band), getting a professional RICS valuation now can help your executors later — and may save your family from a costly HMRC enquiry.
Business Valuations
If you own a trading business, you may qualify for Business Property Relief (BPR), which can reduce the IHT liability on business assets to nil. But BPR is complex — it doesn't apply to investment companies, and the business must have been owned for at least 2 years. A proper valuation and tax consultation is essential if your business forms a significant part of your estate.
Chattels & Collections
Art, jewellery, antiques, wine collections — HMRC considers these part of your estate. If individual items are worth more than £500, list them in a separate schedule attached to your will. For significant collections, an independent valuation is advisable. Many people forget this, leading to disputes between beneficiaries about "what Mum's ring was really worth."
What Actually Makes a Good Will
A good will isn't just a legally valid document — it's one that achieves what you intended without creating problems you didn't foresee. Here's what separates a genuinely effective will from one that merely exists:
- Unambiguous language: "I leave my property to my children" — which property? Which children? Stepchildren? A good will uses full names, addresses, and explicit definitions.
- Consideration of all assets: Including those that don't pass under the will (pensions, joint accounts, life insurance in trust). The will should work in harmony with these, not in ignorance of them.
- Proper execution: Signed in wet ink in the presence of two independent witnesses who also sign. No shortcuts, no digital signatures (they are not valid for wills in England & Wales).
- Tax efficiency: Using the nil-rate band, residence nil-rate band, spousal exemption, and charitable exemptions where appropriate. A will that ignores tax is a will that costs your family 40% of everything above £325,000.
- Regular review: A will should be reviewed after every major life event (marriage, divorce, birth, death, property purchase, retirement) and at minimum every 3–5 years regardless.
- Secure, findable storage: The best will in the world is useless if nobody can find it. Use HMCTS probate registry (£23 deposit fee — note retrieval can take time), your solicitor's strongroom, or a service with secure storage. Always tell your executors where the original is held.
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Free trial, no credit card required.Frequently Asked Questions
- Myth: "My spouse gets everything
automatically."
Fact: This is only true if there are no children. If there are children, intestacy rules give your spouse the first £322,000 and personal belongings — anything above is split 50/50 between spouse and children. With large estates this can force the sale of the family home. (Rules differ in Scotland and Northern Ireland.) - Myth: "A will written on a napkin is legally
valid."
Fact: Technically a will can be written on anything — but it still needs proper witnessing and execution. The medium isn't the issue; the formalities are. - Myth: "I'm too young to need a will."
Fact: If you own any assets, have dependants, or care about where your money goes, you need a will. Age is irrelevant — life is unpredictable.
Do I need a solicitor, or can I use an online service?
For straightforward estates — single property, clear beneficiaries, no trusts needed — an online service with expert review (like Farewill or Octopus Legacy) is perfectly adequate and much cheaper. If you have a blended family, business interests, overseas assets, or a taxable estate (above £325,000 / £500,000 with residence relief), you should seriously consider an SRA-regulated service or a specialist solicitor. The cost difference is typically £100–300 — a trivial amount compared to the potential cost of getting it wrong.
What exactly does "SRA regulated" mean for me?
If a service is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, it means: (1) they must carry professional indemnity insurance, so if they make an error, you have a claim; (2) you can complain to the Legal Ombudsman if things go wrong; (3) they must follow a code of conduct including a duty of care to you. Unregulated services have none of these protections. It's not that unregulated services are necessarily bad — but if something goes wrong, your options are much more limited.
How often should I update my will?
Review your will after any of these events: marriage, divorce, birth of a child or grandchild, death of a beneficiary or executor, buying or selling property, starting or selling a business, significant change in asset value, or a change in tax law. Even without these triggers, review every 3–5 years as a matter of course. Remember: marriage revokes your will automatically; divorce merely removes your ex-spouse as beneficiary.
What happens if I die without a will?
You die "intestate" and your assets are distributed according to a rigid statutory formula. Your spouse gets the first £322,000 and personal chattels; everything above that is split 50/50 between spouse and children. Unmarried partners get nothing — regardless of how long you've been together or whether you own property jointly. Estranged children inherit equally with close children. Friends, charities, and stepchildren get nothing unless they make a court claim. The process is slower, more expensive, and the outcome is almost never what you would have chosen.
Can I include digital assets, crypto, and online accounts?
Yes, and you should. Cryptocurrency, domain names, PayPal balances, and online business accounts can all form part of your estate. The practical challenge is access — your executors need to know these assets exist and how to access them. Don't put passwords in your will (it becomes a public document on probate). Instead, use a password manager with a trusted emergency contact, or a separate sealed letter stored with the will. Kwil's Online Lockbox feature was specifically designed for this.
What about overseas property?
An English will can technically deal with worldwide assets, but in practice, many countries require a local will to deal with local property — especially civil law jurisdictions (France, Spain, Italy). If you have overseas property, you almost certainly need a separate will in that country, drafted by a local lawyer, and your English will should contain a clause explicitly not revoking overseas wills. Most online will services exclude overseas assets from their scope. This is solicitor territory.
Is a "free will" from a charity really free?
Yes — genuinely free. Charities like Cancer Research UK, Age UK and others partner with services like Octopus Legacy and Farewill to fund simple wills. There is no obligation to leave the charity a gift, though they'll ask you to consider it. The catch is that these schemes are usually only available during specific windows (e.g., Free Wills Month in March and October) and are limited to simple wills only. If your affairs are complex, the free scheme won't cover what you need.
How do I store my will safely?
The safest option is the HMCTS Probate Registry — they'll store your original will for a one-off fee of £23. Alternatively, your solicitor's strongroom, a bank safe deposit box, or a regulated storage service. Never store the original in a home safe alone — house fires, floods, and break-ins happen. Keep a copy at home and tell your executors exactly where the original is stored. Co-op Legal Services includes free lifetime storage, which is a genuine advantage.