Year in Wills report 2025

This year's insights reveal some surprising trends, from when people are most likely to write their wills to how quickly they complete them, and how legacy giving continues to grow.

That growth is reflected in the scale of charitable giving through Farewill. Since we began, people writing their wills through our platform have pledged over £1.36 billion in gifts to charities. To put that in perspective, it's roughly equivalent to the amount raised by 16 London Marathons or 30 BBC Children in Need appeals.

And the momentum is growing. In 2025 alone, charities received £312 million in new pledged legacy income, more than any previous year.

One of the most interesting patterns we see each year is when people choose to write their wills. Charity campaigns often create peaks in March and October, but outside those periods, people still write wills consistently throughout the year.

In fact, when people write wills independently rather than through charity campaigns, activity is spread much more evenly across the calendar.

This suggests something simple but important: writing a will isn't tied to a particular time of year. People do it whenever life prompts them to start planning ahead. That might be after buying a home, having children, retiring, or simply deciding it's time to get organised.

When it comes to will-writing, Monday reigns supreme. It seems that once the weekend wraps up, people are ready to tackle those life admin tasks they've been putting off.

Saturdays, by contrast, are remarkably quiet, perhaps because weekends are for living, not planning for the inevitable.

Dig a little deeper and the patterns get even more specific: 2pm on a Monday afternoon is peak will-writing time, while the early hours of Monday morning are, unsurprisingly, the quietest.

What does this tell us? For most people, writing a will isn't an emotional milestone, it's simply another practical task that gets slotted in alongside emails, errands and everything else that makes up a busy weekday.

Writing a will might sound like something that takes days or weeks, but most people finish much faster. Farewill data shows that:

• 84% of people complete their will within 24 hours to send to Farewill specialists for checking

• Most people finish within just two hours of starting

Once someone decides to write their will, they often want to get it done straight away.

That said, for those who don't finish quickly, the process can stretch out, with some returning days or weeks later to complete it.

While most parts of writing a will are straightforward, there's one step where people often pause: choosing executors.

Executors are the people responsible for carrying out the instructions in your will. They can be trusted family members, friends, or professionals. Because it's an important responsibility, many people take extra time to think carefully about who they choose.

Find out more about how to choose your executors.

Like many other services today, will-writing has gone mobile. Around two-thirds of people begin their will on a mobile device, compared with one-third on desktop.

However, people who use desktop computers are more likely to complete the process once they start. This suggests many people start planning on their phone and finish later on a larger screen.

Leaving a gift to charity in your will is becoming increasingly common. Today, more than 1 in 3 wills written through Farewill include a charitable gift.

Many people choose to support causes that have shaped their lives, whether that's medical research, animal welfare, environmental protection, or community organisations.

These gifts can make a lasting difference, helping charities continue their work long into the future.

Another encouraging trend is that the average share of estates left to charity is increasing.

In 2025, the average share of an estate given to charity reached around 9.5%, up from just over 7% five years earlier.

Even small changes like this can have a huge impact on the long-term funding available for charities. Leaving a share of your estate can work well for you too, as the gift changes in line with the value of your estate over time and can help reduce the amount of inheritance tax that may be due.

Across all this year's data, one theme stands out clearly: more people are taking the time to plan ahead. Writing a will gives people the chance to:

• Protect the people they love

• Make their wishes clear

• Leave a positive legacy for the future

And increasingly, people are doing it earlier in life.