Make a will online for free

Yes. As long as your wishes are simple, there’s no need to hire a solicitor to draw up your will. It’s perfectly legal to create your own will without the help of a legal professional.

Our online will maker will create a valid and binding will, so long as you meet the usual requirements for any UK will (online or otherwise):

• You’re aged 18+. Only adults can make a valid will.
• You make the online will voluntarily. A will you’re forced to make doesn’t count.
• You are ‘of sound mind’ when you make it. You need to be mentally capable of understanding and agreeing to the wishes stated in the will.
• The will is written. Or printed off, in this case. Oral wills (where you just speak to someone about what you want to happen) aren’t considered valid in the UK.
• The will is signed in front of two witnesses. These witnesses need to be 18 or over, and can’t be people who will benefit from the will in any way.
• The will is signed by those two witnesses. To prove they were there, essentially.

Our online will service generates a simple (also known as ‘basic’) will.

This states what you would like to happen to your estate when you die, names the executors, and nominates guardians for your pets and children in the event of your death.

A complex will is recommended for very large and/or complicated estates, where you might want to set up Trusts, set out wishes that are complicated or contentious, or get professional help to reduce Inheritance Tax.

If you are using our online will maker to replace a will you’ve made before, it’s important to destroy the old will and all copies (burning, shredding or tearing them up). Then tell your executor(s) where the new will is kept. This will prevent any confusion over which is the real will after you die.

When you die without a will (also known as dying intestate), the bulk of your estate goes to the person legally considered to be your closest family member. This is usually your spouse or civil partner, or (if you are unmarried) your children.

If you have no family members to inherit, the Crown will keep everything.

If you make an online will with Beyond, you can ensure your partner is protected even if you’re not married and that specific items, pets and amounts are given to the right people.

Our online will writing service lets you pass on your:

• Property or land
• Specific belongings
• Stocks and shares
• Money

It’s worth remembering that certain fees, debts and taxes may need to be paid before beneficiaries can inherit, so any exact monetary gifts may differ in the end.

Once you’ve finished writing your will online, you need to print it off, sign it with two witnesses, then store it. You have a few options for this:

• At home. This is free, but it’s important to keep your will somewhere secure and memorable. You don’t want to accidentally throw it away.
• With the Probate Service. If you’re in England or Wales, you can store your will with the government’s Probate Service for £20.
• With a legal professional. You can also keep your will with a solicitor or will writing service, usually for a fee. If you choose this option, it’s worth thinking about whether the arrangement is always going to be suitable (what if you move, or they shut down?).
• With Beyond. In the future, you will be able to store your will in your Beyond account. We will inform you when that’s possible.

Remember: It’s very important not to store your will in a bank safety deposit box. The bank might not be able to release the contents of the safety deposit box without a grant of probate, and a will is required to apply for a grant of probate.

The government recommends that you update your will every five years at least. It’s also important to change your will whenever there’s a significant change in your life, such as when:

• A new child is born.
• You get married, engaged, or divorced.
• You buy, inherit, or move into a new house.
• One of the people mentioned in your original will dies, or becomes less suitable (such as the executor dying, or guardians moving away or splitting up).
• You have something new that you’d like to pass on.
• You change your mind about who should inherit what (it happens).

Our service let’s you update your online will for free whenever you need to.

The executor of your will is responsible for making sure that your wishes are carried out and that your estate is settled properly after you die.

The executor of your online will can be anyone aged 18 or over. They don’t have to be a solicitor, and they can be a beneficiary as well as an executor. You can also have multiple executors. People often choose their partner and/or their children. The important thing is to choose someone you trust.

When you choose a guardian for your children in your online will, you’re choosing who will look after them if both you and their other parent die before they turn 18.

A guardian for a pet is a similar thing, but for pets (who can’t come of age, and don’t have other ‘parents’ - at least, officially speaking), you are choosing a guardian for as long as your pet survives.

Guardians can also be executors and beneficiaries.

Your beneficiaries are the people you choose to inherit some part of your estate when creating your will. Anyone - apart from the two witnesses who sign your will - can be a beneficiary.