Will template UK: how to make a will that is actually valid

A will in England and Wales is valid if it is in writing, signed by you (or at your direction) with the intention of giving effect to it, and your signature is made or acknowledged in the presence of two witnesses, who each then sign in your presence — section 9 of the Wills Act 1837. The wording of the gifts matters, but validity is usually lost at the signing table, not in the drafting. Scotland and Northern Ireland have different rules.

The witnessing rules that catch people out

• A beneficiary must not witness. A gift to a witness, or to the witness's spouse or civil partner, fails — while the will itself remains valid. The most common homemade-will disaster is asking the person who inherits to hold the pen.
• Both witnesses must be present when you sign or acknowledge, and must each sign while you watch.
• Witnesses must be over 18 and capable of understanding what they are doing.
• Do not attach anything with staples or paper clips after signing. Marks suggesting a removed document invite questions on probate.
• Do not amend it by hand afterwards. Crossings-out and margin notes made after signing generally have no effect. Changes are made by a properly executed codicil or, better, a new will.

What a complete will contains

1. Revocation of all earlier wills — otherwise two documents can operate at once.
2. Executors, ideally two or a substitute, since one may die or decline to act.
3. Guardians for children under 18. If you have minor children and appoint nobody, the decision may end up with the court.
4. Specific gifts (legacies) — items or sums to named people, with enough detail to identify both.
5. The residuary gift — everything left after debts, taxes and legacies. This is the clause that actually distributes most estates, and the one most homemade wills leave ambiguous.
6. Substitutions, saying who takes a gift if the intended beneficiary dies before you. Without this, the gift may lapse and fall into residue.
7. Funeral wishes — not legally binding, but useful to those left arranging things.
8. An attestation clause, recording that the signing formalities were followed. It raises a presumption of due execution and saves the executors evidence at probate.

Three points that change the outcome

Marriage and divorce. Marriage or forming a civil partnership generally revokes an earlier will unless it was made in contemplation of that marriage. Divorce does not revoke the will, but your former spouse is generally treated as having died before you, which can leave gifts falling into residue unexpectedly. Review the will after either event.

Family provision claims. Even a valid will can be challenged. Under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 a spouse, civil partner, child or dependant may claim reasonable financial provision. Leaving a spouse out entirely does not automatically fail — but it invites a claim, so it is a decision to make deliberately, with a note of the reasons.

Assets that pass outside the will. A jointly owned home held as beneficial joint tenants passes by survivorship, and pension death benefits usually follow a nomination to the scheme trustees. Neither is governed by the will. Check both before assuming the will covers everything.

Where to keep it

Tell your executors where the original is, and keep it somewhere retrievable — with the will-writer, at a bank, or through the national wills registration service. Probate is granted on the original; a photocopy makes the process considerably harder and sometimes contentious.

Draft yours in a few minutes

Our template produces a will for England and Wales that meets the Wills Act 1837 formalities: revocation, executors, guardians, specific and residuary gifts, substitutions, funeral wishes and a proper attestation clause — with checks that flag a residuary gift to a spouse when no spouse is recorded, minor children with no guardian, and a spouse left out of residue.

→ Last Will and Testament

Large or complex estates — business assets, agricultural property, trusts, foreign property, potential inheritance tax planning — merit a solicitor rather than any template.