How to Make a Will Online in England and Wales

Most people who look into writing a Will online stop at the same question, and it is a fair one. If the whole thing happens on a screen, can it really be the same document a solicitor would produce? The answer turns out to be yes, with one condition that catches people out at the final step.

The Quick Answer

You can make a legally valid Will online in England and Wales. The drafting, the decisions and the document itself can all be done digitally. What the law will not allow yet is a paperless signature: under section 9 of the Wills Act 1837 you have to print the Will and sign it in wet ink in front of two witnesses, who are physically present at the same time and who then sign it themselves. Do that correctly and your online Will has exactly the same legal standing as one drawn up across a desk in an office.

Are Online Wills Legal in England and Wales?

Yes. Online Wills are legal in England and Wales, because section 9 of the Wills Act 1837 governs how a Will is executed, not how it was drafted or who typed it.

A Will handwritten on a sheet of paper, dictated to a solicitor, or produced by an online service are all treated identically, provided the signing formalities are met. The law has never cared where the words came from.

What people are really asking, underneath the question, is whether an online Will is any good. That depends on the service and on your circumstances, which is worth being honest about. There is a section further down on the situations where an online Will is the wrong choice.

What the Law Requires

Five conditions must be satisfied for a Will to be valid in England and Wales. They are worth reading properly, because this is the part that goes wrong:

• The Will is in writing, meaning a physical document
• You sign it, or someone signs it in your presence and at your direction
• It is clear you intended that signature to give effect to the Will
• You sign, or acknowledge your signature, in the presence of two or more witnesses who are there at the same time
• Each witness then signs the Will in your presence

Two further rules sit alongside them. Under section 15, a gift to a witness or to a witness's spouse or civil partner is void, so a beneficiary must never act as a witness. And the video witnessing allowed temporarily during the pandemic ended on 31 January 2024, so witnesses have to be in the room.

How to Make a Valid Will Online: Step by Step

1. Take stock of what you own

Property, savings, investments, pensions, life policies, vehicles and possessions of real value. Then the part that is easy to skip: the online accounts, cryptocurrency, photo libraries and subscriptions that now form a large slice of an ordinary estate. Our guide to digital Wills and digital assets goes into that side in more detail. Note the debts as well, since your estate settles them before anyone inherits.

2. Choose your people

Executors carry out your wishes, and you can appoint up to four, though two is usual. Pick people who are organised, likely to outlive you, and willing, which means asking them first. If you have children under 18, naming guardians may be the most important decision in the whole document. Then your beneficiaries, including who inherits if one of them dies before you do.

3. Decide who gets what

Specific gifts first, meaning named items or fixed sums to named people. Then the residuary estate, which is everything left after debts, taxes and those gifts, and which usually represents the bulk of what you are passing on. A Will that gives away specific items but forgets the residue creates a partial intestacy, where the statutory rules decide the rest for you.

If you are leaving a charitable gift, there is a tax point worth knowing. Where you leave 10% or more of your net estate to charity, the inheritance tax rate on the rest of the estate falls from 40% to 36%.

4. Draft the document

A good online service works as a guided questionnaire, turning plain answers into correctly drafted clauses. This is the fast part. Most people complete it in twenty minutes or so, having spent considerably longer on step two.

5. Read it before you print it

Check the spelling of every name, the addresses, the guardianship appointments and the shares of the residue, which should add up to the whole. Check that you have said what happens if a beneficiary dies before you. Errors caught here cost nothing. Errors caught after death cost a great deal.

6. Print and sign it properly

This is where valid Wills are lost. Print the whole document. Gather two witnesses who are over 18, of sound mind, and who are not beneficiaries or married to one. Sign it yourself, in ink, with both of them watching at the same moment. Each of them then signs and adds their name and address while you watch. Date it. Do not remove the staple, do not attach anything with a paperclip, and do not make handwritten changes afterwards.

7. Store it where it will be found

The signed original is the Will. A copy has no legal force on its own, and if the original cannot be found there is a legal presumption that you destroyed it deliberately, which means it is treated as revoked. Keep it somewhere safe and dry, and make sure your executors know exactly where. Storing a verified digital record alongside the original gives your executors proof of what the Will said and when it was made, though the paper original still governs.

8. Keep it current

Marriage or civil partnership automatically revokes an existing Will, unless it was made in contemplation of that specific marriage, and a lot of people have no idea. Divorce works differently: the Will stands, but your former spouse is treated as having died before you. Births, deaths, moving house, buying a business and any significant change in what you own are all reasons to look again. A review every three to five years is a sensible habit.

When an Online Will Is the Wrong Choice

An online Will is the wrong choice where the estate is complex or a claim against it is likely. Straightforward estates are well served online. These are not, and it is better to know that at the start:

• Property or assets held overseas, where another country's succession rules may apply
• Business interests needing succession planning or shareholder agreements to line up
• Estates likely to face significant inheritance tax where trust planning is being considered
• Blended families or anyone with a realistic prospect of a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975
• Any situation where mental capacity could later be questioned, which calls for a formal assessment and a medical opinion on the record

In these cases the right route is a solicitor or a specialist adviser, and often the two working together.

Choosing a Provider That Can Move With the Law

Step eight is the one most people skip, and the choice of provider largely decides whether they skip it. A Will made through a service that charges for every amendment is a Will that stops being updated, which is how families end up holding a document describing a life the person had long since moved on from. Before you commit, ask what an update costs and how long it takes, where the signed original and the instructions around it are kept, and what the provider plans to do when electronic Wills become law.

It is the reason adeus was built to satisfy the current process in full, wet ink signature and two witnesses included, on infrastructure designed for electronic execution once the legislation arrives. What you set down now should not need doing twice.

What Happens If You Do Not Make a Will

If you die without a Will in England and Wales, the intestacy rules decide who inherits, and they are blunter than most people expect. A surviving spouse or civil partner receives the personal possessions, a statutory legacy of £322,000, and half of whatever remains, with the other half passing to the children. Unmarried partners inherit nothing at all, however long the relationship lasted. Stepchildren you never formally adopted inherit nothing. No guardians are named for your children, which leaves that decision to the court.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a Will made online legally valid in England and Wales?

Yes, provided it is printed and signed in accordance with section 9 of the Wills Act 1837. The law regulates how a Will is executed, not how it was drafted.

Can I sign my Will electronically?

No. An electronic signature does not satisfy section 9. The Will must be signed in wet ink on a physical document.

Can my witnesses watch over a video call?

No. The temporary provision that allowed video witnessing expired on 31 January 2024. Wills signed by video link within that window remain valid, but anything signed that way since is not.

Who can witness my Will?

Anyone over 18 who is of sound mind and is not a beneficiary or the spouse or civil partner of one. Neighbours, colleagues and friends are all fine. A witness who stands to inherit loses the gift, though the Will itself stays valid.

Do I need to register my Will?

There is no compulsory register in England and Wales. What matters is that the original can be found. Telling your executors where it is does more good than any register.

How long does it take to make a Will online?

The online drafting usually takes ten to thirty minutes. Deciding on executors, guardians and beneficiaries is the part that deserves longer, and signing with witnesses takes a few minutes once you have them in the same room.

The Step That Matters Most

Around half the adults in the UK have no Will at all, and the reason offered is almost never that they do not care. It is that the process has always felt slow, expensive and vaguely intimidating, so it moves to next month, repeatedly, for years.

That part has changed, even while the signing rules have not. The document you sign this weekend will still be the one that speaks for you, and it will do so with the full weight of a law that has stood since 1837.

Our companion guide explains the difference between a digital Will and your digital assets, and why the second one is the gap in most existing Wills.

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About adeus

Founded in 2024, adeus (Mankind Technologies Ltd.) is a UK legaltech company dedicated to modernising wills and legacy planning. adeus is uniquely positioned to build the foundations for electronic wills in England and Wales. Backed through a £500,000 Innovate UK Smart Grant and supported by LawtechUK, we’re recognised as a lawtech pioneer by industry figures. We're combining legal rigour, modern technology, and user-centred design to deliver a trusted, future-proof foundation for electronic wills.

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About the Author

Mark Hedley is the co-founder of adeus. He writes regularly about the upcoming reforms to the Wills Act, the future of electronic wills in England and Wales, and the evolving digital legacy space. Connect with Mark on LinkedIn.

This article was last updated in August 2026.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. If you need advice about your specific circumstances, please consult a qualified solicitor.

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