Home & Family
Compare will writing services
A will is the cheapest legal document most people will ever need and the one they most often get wrong. Here is what the options cost and what separates them.
Around half of UK adults die without a valid will, and the estate is then divided by the intestacy rules rather than by anything the person wanted. Those rules are blunt: an unmarried partner inherits nothing, stepchildren inherit nothing, and a spouse does not automatically receive the whole estate once children are involved.
The market splits three ways. Online will services are cheapest and fine for a straightforward estate. Will writers sit in the middle and will usually visit you. Solicitors cost most and are the right answer once a business, a trust, a second property or a likely dispute is involved. The price gap is large, but so is the gap in what you get, and the cheap option is only a false economy in the cases where it is genuinely the wrong tool.
What it should cost
| What you are buying | Indicative UK cost |
|---|---|
| Single basic will, online | £90 – £150 |
| Mirror wills for a couple, online | £140 – £250 |
| Single will via a will writer | £150 – £300 |
| Mirror wills via a will writer | £250 – £500 |
| Single will via a solicitor | £200 – £650 |
| Will including a trust | £500 – £2,000+ |
| Lasting power of attorney, per document | £150 – £400 plus the registration fee |
Storage and future amendments are frequently charged separately — ask before you sign, not after.
What changes the price
- How complicated the estate isA house, a bank account and two adult children is a simple will. A business, an overseas property, a blended family or a beneficiary on means-tested benefits is not, and each one adds cost for good reason.
- Whether a trust is involvedTrusts are where will writing gets expensive and where it is most often mis-sold. Some are genuinely useful for protecting a share of a home or providing for a vulnerable beneficiary. Others are sold on a care-fee argument that does not hold up. Ask what specific problem the trust solves for you.
- Single or mirrorMirror wills for a couple are usually well under twice the price of one, because most of the work is shared.
- Who writes itWill writing is not a reserved legal activity in England and Wales, so the person doing it may be a regulated solicitor or may be entirely unregulated. Both can be competent. Only one carries compulsory professional indemnity insurance and an independent complaints route.
- Ongoing costsAnnual storage fees, per-change amendment fees and — most importantly — the executor fee if the firm appoints itself. A percentage-of-estate executor fee can dwarf what you paid for the will.
How to compare properly
Take these to every supplier. The answers are usually more revealing than the prices.
- Ask whether the person writing it is regulated, and by whom. Solicitors are regulated by the SRA. Will writers may belong to a voluntary body such as the Society of Will Writers, which is a code of conduct rather than statutory regulation.
- Ask who the executor will be. If the firm names itself and charges a percentage of the estate, get that percentage in writing and work out the pounds.
- Ask what happens to the document. Free storage, paid storage, or handed to you to keep — and how your executors will know where it is.
- Ask what a change costs. Wills need updating after a marriage, a divorce, a birth or a house move.
- Get the total in writing, including storage and registration fees, before you agree to anything.
Ready to compare wills?
Compare Wills is our dedicated site for this category, with the detail, local coverage and a quote form.
Common questions
Is a cheap online will legally valid?
Yes, provided it is signed and witnessed correctly — two witnesses, present at the same time, neither of them a beneficiary or married to one. Most online wills that fail, fail at the signing stage rather than in the drafting.
Does marriage affect an existing will?
In England and Wales, marriage revokes an earlier will unless it was made in contemplation of that specific marriage. Divorce does not revoke the will but treats the former spouse as having died first. Scotland works differently.
Do I need a solicitor?
Not for a straightforward estate. You probably do if there is a business, agricultural property, an estate likely to face inheritance tax, a blended family, a beneficiary who cannot manage money, or anyone who might contest it.
How often should a will be reviewed?
Every five years as a habit, and immediately after a marriage, divorce, birth, death, house purchase, or a move between England and Scotland.
Still deciding between options?
Free will scheme or pay for one?
Several charities will pay for your will in the hope of a legacy. For a simple estate that is a genuinely good deal — with two conditions worth understanding first.
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