The smartest way to make your will

Top questions about writing a will

How much does an online will cost?

The cost of writing a will online is £100 for a single will or £160 for couples, saving you £40 compared to the cost of two separate wills. You can sign up and start writing your will for free – you only need to pay when you’re finished and ready for your will to be checked by our specialists.

What’s the cost of updating a will?

Update your will when circumstance change for just £10 per year

It’s important to update your will when circumstances change, for example, if you have a new child, you move house or one of your executors or beneficiaries dies. Our subscription service offers unlimited updates for just £10 a year. It’s easy to make the updates in your online account, and our will specialists will check them for you. 

You’ll need to destroy your old will to avoid confusion, and print and sign your new one once it’s been checked.

Without unlimited changes, you'd need to pay more every time you update your will

If you write a will with a high-street solicitor, you may need a codicil to change your will. This is a separate document that costs about £70 each time. If you want to make more significant changes to your will, most high-street solicitors would recommend making a new will instead, which can often costs hundreds more.

Find out more about the cost of updating a will here.

How do you choose who inherits your estate?

Most married couples, civil partners and long-term partners choose to leave the bulk of their estate to their partner. This is usually due to shared responsibilities, like bringing up children or paying a mortgage, where your partner would rely on your financial support.

If you’re a parent and don’t have a partner, you may wish to share your estate between your children. Anything left to children under 18 will usually be held by your executors until they reach adulthood. Your executors can choose to transfer the gift to the child’s parent or guardian for safekeeping at their discretion, or to use it for the child’s benefit before they reach 18.

If you don’t want to leave your estate to family or close friends, you may choose to include a charity in your will. Leaving a left to charity is a great way to support a cause you care about, and leave a lasting legacy.

What is an executor and how do you appoint them?

Executors are the people you name in your will to carry out your wishes after you die. They could be friends, family members or a professional service – the most important thing is that they would be comfortable carrying out your wishes and administering your estate after you’ve died. Administering your estate could include applying for grant of probate, selling or transferring assets, and distributing your estate to any beneficiaries.

When you write a will with Farewill, appointing your executors is easy. Whether you choose friends, family, Farewill Trustees or a combination of all three, you can do it in just a few clicks online, or with a specialist over the phone.

How do you update or amend a will?

If you already have a will from a solicitor or another provider, there's a high chance that they'll ask you to pay if you want to change or update it. In some cases, this could end up costing over £150 – and you still won't have an easy way to update it in the future.

If your old will is out of date, you could make a new will for just £100 by using Farewill’s online will writing service. This would then allow you to update your will anytime in the future for just £10 a year – free for the first year. And remember: once you’ve printed and signed your new will alongside two witnesses, it’s important that you dispose of your old will to avoid confusion for your executors.

Read more about how to update or amend a will here.

How much inheritance tax will I have to pay?

Inheritance tax is a tax on the estate of someone who has died. An estate can be made up of property, money and possessions.

There’s normally no inheritance tax to pay if either the value of the estate is below £325,000 or if everything above that amount is left to your spouse, civil partner, a charity or a community amateur sports club.

If you own your home (or a share in it) your tax-free threshold can increase to £500,000 if:

• you leave it to your children (including adopted, foster or stepchildren) or grandchildren

• your estate is worth less than £2 million

Funds from the estate are used to pay inheritance tax. The people who inherit your estate only pay inheritance tax under specific circumstances, for example, if they inherit a rental property, or you give them a gift worth more than £325,000 and die within 7 years.

Note: Farewill does not provide legal or tax advice. Our will specialists can provide you with guidance through our telephone service but we do not provide bespoke advice. If you would like inheritance tax advice before you write your will, we always recommend speaking to an independent financial advisor.

How much does it cost to write a will?

On average, it costs around £150 to write a will in the UK. At Farewill, we charge just £90 for a single will or £140 for a couples will. And with our unlimited changes, you can update your will anytime for just £10 a year.

Is a will legally binding?

To make your will legally binding you need to make sure it’s signed alongside two witnesses. It’s important that both witnesses watch you sign your will at the same time, then they need to add their own details and signatures. This is so that, if your will is ever contested in the future, your witnesses can testify that they watched you sign your will.

Your witnesses should be people you trust, over the age of 18. They cannot be a beneficiary in your will, or married to one of your beneficiaries.