Do I Need a Solicitor for a Will?

You do not legally have to use a solicitor to write a will in England and Wales. You can write one yourself, use an online service or instruct a solicitor. The important questions are whether the wording does what you intend, whether the signing is legally valid and whether your family, assets or tax position make a generic process unsafe.

This page covers England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have different succession rules. The decision aid above does not collect or transmit the answers you enter and does not declare a will valid.

The short decision

Situation	Route worth considering	Main safeguard
Simple assets, uncomplicated family, clear gifts and no likely dispute	DIY document, online service or solicitor	Use one coherent document and follow the two-witness procedure exactly
Mostly straightforward, but you are unsure about wording or execution	Regulated review or solicitor drafting	Obtain a written scope explaining what is and is not checked
Shared property with an unmarried partner, vulnerable dependant, blended family, likely claim, business or overseas connection	Specialist solicitor	Advice tailored to ownership, dependency, succession and tax issues
Concern about mental capacity, communication or pressure	Specialist solicitor before drafting or signing	Independent instructions and a contemporaneous capacity/evidence record

When official guidance says to get professional advice

GOV.UK says you can write your own will but should obtain professional advice when it is not straightforward. Its examples include sharing property with somebody who is not a spouse or civil partner; providing for a dependant who cannot care for themselves; several family members who may make a claim, such as a second spouse or children from an earlier marriage; a permanent home outside the UK; overseas property; or a business.

Those examples are not the only possible complications. A trust, farm, partnership, digital or intellectual-property asset, unclear property ownership, substantial lifetime gifts, tax planning, an intended exclusion or a person receiving means-tested support can all justify tailored advice.

DIY does not mean informal

A homemade will can be valid, but it still needs legally effective clauses and execution. In England and Wales, GOV.UK says the person making the will must be 18 or over, act voluntarily, be of sound mind, put the will in writing and sign it in the presence of two adult witnesses. The witnesses then sign the same document in the will-maker's presence.

A beneficiary, or a beneficiary's spouse or civil partner, should not witness the will because their gift can fail. Do not combine clauses copied from unrelated templates or hand-edit a signed document. Read the complete will-writing and witnessing checklist before relying on a DIY route.

Solicitor, online service and will writer are not the same thing

“Online” describes how a service is delivered, not its regulatory status. An online service might be operated by an SRA-regulated law firm, use solicitors for a limited review, or be an unregulated template provider. Ask who is legally responsible for the work and verify that claim independently.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority approves people entitled to call themselves solicitors and explains the protections attached to different working arrangements. Within an SRA-regulated firm there are regulatory rules, minimum insurance requirements, a complaints route and possible access to compensation arrangements. An independent will-writing company may offer different insurance, complaints and redress; do not assume equivalent protection from a professional-looking website.

What a solicitor adds

• Issue spotting: checking legal ownership, family claims, dependency, capacity, cross-border questions and tax interactions that a form may not surface.
• Drafting: making gifts, substitutes, residue, trusts, guardians and executor powers work together rather than as isolated clauses.
• Independent evidence: recording instructions, identity, capacity and absence of pressure where a later dispute is possible.
• Regulated responsibility: a defined retainer, professional duties, insurance and complaint/redress routes where applicable.
• Execution and storage: explaining the signature process, supervising it where agreed and arranging safe original-document storage.

A solicitor does not make every later dispute impossible, and a regulated provider is not automatically the cheapest. The value is advice and accountability matched to the risk—not expensive stationery.

What a template or automated service can and cannot do

A structured service can help a straightforward user list executors, guardians, specific gifts, substitute beneficiaries and the residue. It can reduce omissions and may cost less. Its limit is the information and rules built into the questionnaire. It cannot reliably resolve a fact the user misunderstands or does not disclose.

Before paying, find out whether the product supplies only a template, generates wording from answers, includes a human review or includes advice from a named regulated professional. “Checked” can mean spelling and completeness rather than legal suitability.

Seven questions to ask any provider

1. Who will do and supervise the work? Obtain the person's name, role and organisation.
2. Who regulates them? Verify a claimed solicitor and firm directly through the SRA.
3. What is included? Ask whether the service covers advice, drafting, one revision, signing support, storage, later updates and tax/trust questions.
4. What is excluded? Cross-border assets, trusts, severing a joint tenancy or tax advice may require separate work.
5. What is the full price? Obtain the total including VAT and any recurring storage, membership or update charge.
6. What insurance and redress apply? Ask for the complaints route and what happens if the provider stops trading.
7. Who keeps the original? Confirm retrieval, replacement and release arrangements without assuming a scan is enough for probate.

How to compare quotes properly

Compare the same scope. A low advertised figure may cover one basic will but not a pair of wills, trusts, home visits, tax advice, property-ownership changes or document storage. Ask each provider to confirm in writing:

• the fixed fee or charging basis and whether VAT is included;
• the assumptions behind the quote and events that increase it;
• who provides the advice and who signs off the document;
• the expected timetable and number of revisions;
• whether signing is supervised or only explained; and
• any ongoing or cancellation charge.

The SRA requires regulated solicitors to give clients the best possible information about how a matter will be priced and its likely overall cost. Its mandatory website price-publication rules cover certain listed services, including uncontested probate, but do not mean every firm must publish one fixed price for every will. Request a written quote for your facts.

Check the provider before paying

1. Use the SRA Solicitors Register to check a person or firm claiming SRA regulation.
2. Use contact details from the register rather than relying only on an advert, email or social profile.
3. Read the engagement letter, cancellation terms, complaints process and storage terms.
4. Do not transfer money because of a last-minute bank-detail change without verifying it through a trusted channel.

Capacity and pressure need special care

A person can make a will only while they have the required decision-making capacity and act voluntarily. A diagnosis does not by itself decide capacity, and somebody who needs help with other financial decisions may still be able to make a will. Where capacity may later be questioned, or another person is directing the meeting, independent specialist advice should happen before signing.

If a person lacks the capacity to make or change their own will, relatives cannot simply sign one for them. The Court of Protection statutory-will process may be required. GOV.UK recommends legal advice for that court application.

Free and lower-cost routes

Check employee benefits, home or legal-expenses insurance and trade-union membership for an included will service. Some charities arrange limited will-writing schemes. Understand who actually provides the legal service, whether a charitable gift is optional and whether the proposed will fits the scheme's simple scope.

Free does not remove the need to verify regulation, scope and execution. Avoid a provider that pressures you into a trust, storage subscription, investment, funeral plan or other product you did not seek.

A safe preparation pack for the first appointment

• a rough asset and debt list, including property ownership;
• full names and relationships of executors, substitutes, guardians and beneficiaries;
• details of previous marriage, civil partnership, dependants and intended exclusions;
• business, trust, pension, life-policy and overseas connections;
• existing wills, codicils, property documents and relevant agreements; and
• questions about price, storage, updates and what happens if a chosen person dies first.

Official and independent sources checked

• GOV.UK: what to include and when legal advice is recommended
• GOV.UK: legal signing and witnessing requirements
• SRA: choosing a solicitor and comparing protection
• SRA: Solicitors Register
• GOV.UK: statutory wills where a person cannot make their own will
• Citizens Advice: wills, common mistakes and provider choices

Reviewed 3 September 2026. This is general information for England and Wales, not legal or tax advice. Provider status, prices and services change; verify them directly before relying on a quote.