Last Will & Testament

Overview

A will allows you to decide what happens to your money, property, and possessions after your death. It is the primary legal instrument through which your wishes are recorded and given effect.

Making a will also enables structured estate planning and may help ensure that no more inheritance tax is paid than is necessary, depending on the arrangements made and the composition of the estate.

Although it is possible to write a will yourself, most people choose to use a solicitor or a professional estate planning firm to ensure that the will is legally valid, clearly drafted, and properly executed. For a will to take effect, it must be signed and witnessed in accordance with strict legal requirements.

If you wish to update an existing will, this must be done either by making a formal amendment known as a codicil, or by executing a new will entirely. Informal changes or handwritten alterations are not legally effective.

"If no qualifying relatives can be identified under the rules, the estate ultimately passes to the Crown."

Dying Without a Will

If a person dies without leaving a valid will, their estate is distributed according to statutory rules, regardless of what they may have intended. This process is known as intestacy, and the deceased person is said to have died intestate.

The rules governing intestacy determine who inherits and in what order. If no qualifying relatives can be identified under those rules, the estate ultimately passes to the Crown. This outcome often differs significantly from what the deceased would have chosen had they made a will.

What Your Will Should Cover

A well-drafted will should clearly set out:

Who you wish to benefit from your estate
Who should act as executor (or executors) to administer your estate
Who should take responsibility for any children under the age of 18
How your estate should be distributed if a beneficiary dies before you
Any specific gifts, legacies, or charitable intentions

Where appropriate, a will may also incorporate or work alongside trust arrangements to provide ongoing control or protection.

Circumstances Requiring Particular Care

Additional care in drafting is often required where:

You own property jointly with someone who is not your spouse or civil partner
You wish to provide for a dependant who is unable to manage their own affairs
You have children from a previous relationship or a second family
Your permanent home is outside the United Kingdom
You own assets or property overseas
You own or are involved in a business
You wish to balance provision between a surviving partner and children

In such cases, careful structuring is essential to ensure that the will operates as intended.

Making Sure Your Will Is Legally Valid

For a will to be legally valid under English law, the person making it must:

Be aged 18 or over
Make the will voluntarily, without pressure or coercion
Be of sound mind
Make the will in writing
Sign the will in the presence of two witnesses, both of whom must be over 18
Have both witnesses sign the will in the testator’s presence

Any later changes to a will must follow the same signing and witnessing formalities in order to be legally effective.

A Common and Serious Mistake

Witnesses (and their spouses or civil partners) must not benefit under the will.

If a witness, or their partner, is named as a beneficiary, the gift to that person will fail. Witnesses should therefore be independent individuals, such as friends, neighbours, or colleagues, and not anyone who stands to inherit under the will.

Summary

A properly drafted and executed will ensures that your estate is dealt with according to your wishes, rather than by rigid statutory rules. It also provides the foundation for effective estate and succession planning and helps avoid uncertainty, delay, and unintended outcomes.