Making a will yourself is legal in England and Wales, and for a straightforward estate it can be done without a solicitor. But the formalities set out in the Wills Act 1837 are strict, and getting even one of them wrong can mean the will fails entirely — leaving the estate to be distributed under the intestacy rules instead of the wishes actually written down.
The five legal requirements for a valid will
Under section 9 of the Wills Act 1837, a will is only legally valid in England and Wales if it meets all of the following conditions: it must be in writing; it must be signed by the person making it (the testator), or signed by someone else in their presence and at their direction; the testator must sign, or acknowledge an existing signature, in the presence of two witnesses who are both present at the same time; and each witness must then sign the will, or acknowledge their signature, in the testator’s presence. Missing any one of these steps — even something that looks minor, like a witness signing after leaving the room — can make the whole will invalid.
Age and mental capacity
The testator must be 18 or over, except in limited cases such as armed forces personnel on active service, and must have “testamentary capacity” — broadly, understanding that they’re making a will, roughly what they own, and who might reasonably expect to benefit. GOV.UK’s guidance confirms the practical version of this test: the person must be of sound mind and make the will voluntarily, without pressure from anyone else.
Who can — and cannot — act as a witness
Witnesses must be 18 or over, and it’s sensible for them to be someone with no personal stake in the will’s contents. This matters because of a specific rule: if a witness (or their husband, wife or civil partner) is left anything in the will, that particular gift to them is void, even though the rest of the will can remain valid. GOV.UK is explicit on this point, warning that you cannot leave your witnesses, or their married partners, anything in your will. In practice, this usually means asking two neighbours, colleagues or friends who aren’t beneficiaries, rather than family members who stand to inherit.
How the signing and witnessing actually has to happen
The physical mechanics of signing matter more than people often expect. Both witnesses need a clear line of sight to the testator at the moment of signing (or acknowledging an existing signature) — watching through a window or open door can be acceptable, but they do need to actually see the act happen, not simply be told about it afterwards. The witnesses don’t need to sign at exactly the same moment as each other, but each must sign, or acknowledge their own signature, while the testator is present. If the testator can’t physically sign, someone else can sign on their behalf, provided this is done in the testator’s presence and at their clear direction.
Changing a will after it’s made
A will isn’t fixed for life, but changes need to follow the same formalities as making a new one. A small change can sometimes be made by a separate document called a codicil, which itself has to be signed and witnessed in exactly the same way as the original will. For anything beyond a minor amendment, it’s generally simpler and safer to make an entirely new will that expressly revokes the old one, rather than relying on a codicil that could create ambiguity about which document — or which combination of documents — actually reflects the final wishes.
Why DIY wills still cause problems in practice
- Home-made or template wills are legally valid if the formalities are followed correctly, but many estate disputes trace back to wills that were badly worded, ambiguous, or witnessed incorrectly.
- Marriage generally revokes an existing will automatically, unless it was made specifically in expectation of that marriage — a detail DIY will-writers often miss.
- Divorce doesn’t revoke a will, but it usually means a former spouse is treated as having died before the testator for any gift or executorship left to them.
- Where an estate includes a business, dependants needing extra provision, or an unmarried partner with no automatic inheritance rights, professional advice is worth the cost — the formalities are only the starting point.
What happens if a will is invalid
If a will fails one of the formal requirements and can’t be fixed or admitted to probate on some other legal basis, the estate is generally distributed as though no will existed at all, under the statutory intestacy rules. This can produce a very different outcome from what the person intended — for example, an unmarried partner receives nothing automatically under intestacy, no matter how long the relationship lasted or how clearly the deceased would have wanted otherwise. This is really the core reason the formalities matter as much as they do: an invalid will isn’t a slightly weaker version of what was intended, it’s often a completely different distribution of the estate.
FAQs
Can I write my own will without a solicitor?
Yes — there’s no legal requirement to use a solicitor, and a home-made will is fully valid provided it meets the Wills Act 1837 formalities. GOV.UK’s own guidance suggests getting advice specifically where the will isn’t straightforward, such as where there’s a business, a blended family, or overseas assets involved.
Do both witnesses need to read the contents of the will?
No. Witnesses are confirming that they saw the testator sign (or acknowledge their signature), not that they’ve read or approved of what the will says. There’s no legal requirement for a witness to know what’s in the document they’re witnessing.
What happens if I leave a gift to one of my witnesses?
The gift to that witness (or their spouse or civil partner) becomes void, but the rest of the will generally remains valid. It’s a targeted penalty on that specific gift, not a reason the whole document fails — but it’s easily avoided simply by choosing witnesses who aren’t named as beneficiaries.