Will Templates and DIY Wills: What to Watch For

A will template is a pre-formatted document, often a printed pack or an online form, that gives you the standard sections and legal wording to write your own will. Used for a straightforward estate, one can produce a valid will at low cost. Used for a complicated one, it can create problems that only surface after death, when they are hard to fix.

You are allowed to write your own will in the UK. Government guidance is direct about it: a person can write their own will, but advice is sensible where the will is not straightforward (gov.uk, as at June 2026, subject to change). This page explains what a template covers, when a DIY approach tends to work, where it commonly goes wrong, and the signing rules that decide whether a will stands up at all. Figures are current as at June 2026 and subject to change.

What is a will template?

A will template is a ready-made framework for a will, supplying the standard clauses so you fill in your own details rather than draft from scratch. Templates come as stationery packs, online questionnaires that generate a document, and free planners from charities. A good one includes the sections a valid will needs: who inherits, who administers the estate, guardians for children, and what happens if a beneficiary dies first.

Templates range from free to modest cost. Free will planners are widely available, including from charities, and paid packs or online services sit at the lower end of will-writing costs. What a template does not include is judgement about your particular family and assets, which is where the value of tailored input tends to sit. For a fuller view of the price range, see our guide to how much a will costs.

When a will template is a reasonable choice

A template tends to suit a simple, settled situation: a modest estate, a clear idea of who inherits, and no complicating factors. Many people in that position use a template or an online service and end up with a valid will. The key test is whether your wishes can be expressed in plain, standard clauses without needing anything unusual.

• You are married or in a civil partnership and leaving everything to your partner, then to your children.
• Your estate is modest and unlikely to face inheritance tax.
• You have no property abroad and no business interests.
• There are no children from an earlier relationship and no dependants with special needs.
• You do not want to set up a trust or plan around care fees.

If most of those describe you, a template can be a sensible, low-cost start. Our companion guide on how to write a will walks through the sections step by step.

Where DIY wills commonly go wrong

The recurring problem with DIY wills is that mistakes stay hidden until the person has died, when they can no longer be asked what they meant and the document can no longer be corrected by them. A template cannot flag that your circumstances are the kind the guidance says need advice. Several situations regularly cause trouble, and most involve a family or asset picture that a standard form was not built to handle.

• Blended families. Leaving everything outright to a new spouse can unintentionally disinherit children from a previous relationship.
• Unmarried partners. A template will still needs careful drafting, and jointly owned property can pass outside the will regardless of what the document says.
• Property or assets abroad. Foreign assets may be governed by another country's succession rules.
• Business interests. Shares and business assets often need specific provisions and can carry their own tax treatment.
• Vulnerable or dependent beneficiaries. An outright gift may not be the right structure, and a trust is generally not a template job.
• Inheritance tax. A template does not plan around the nil-rate band or reliefs, so a larger estate may pay more than it needed to.

Citizens Advice lists broadly the same flags for taking professional help, including property owned with an unmarried partner, dependants who need care, potential competing claims, and assets or residence outside the UK (Citizens Advice, as at June 2026). Beyond the family picture, the most common technical failure is simply getting the signing and witnessing wrong, covered next. There is also the risk of a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, where someone left out or left too little asks a court to vary the estate (legislation.gov.uk).

Making a template will legally valid

A template only becomes a will once it is executed correctly, and this is where many DIY wills fail. In England and Wales a will is valid where the person is 18 or over and of sound mind, the will is in writing, it is signed in the presence of 2 witnesses who are both over 18, and those 2 witnesses then sign in the person's presence (gov.uk, as at June 2026, subject to change).

One rule catches people out more than any other: you cannot leave anything in your will to a witness or their married partner (gov.uk, as at June 2026). If a beneficiary witnesses the will, the gift to them can fail even though the will itself stands. Asking a neighbour or a friend who inherits nothing to witness, rather than a family member who does, avoids that trap.

1. Sign the will yourself, in front of both witnesses at the same time.
2. Have both witnesses, each aged 18 or over, sign while you watch.
3. Choose witnesses who gain nothing under the will, and whose married partners gain nothing either.
4. Store the will safely and tell your executors where it is.
5. To change it later, make a new will or a formal codicil, rather than crossing anything out (gov.uk).

Will template versus using a solicitor

Neither route is right for everyone. A template wins on speed and cost for a simple estate. A solicitor, STEP practitioner or qualified will writer earns their fee where the estate is larger or the family picture is complicated, because the cost of a professional is usually far smaller than the cost of fixing a flawed will after death. The table sets out the trade-off.

General comparison for England and Wales, as at June 2026, subject to change. Costs vary; see how much does a will cost.

A worked example (illustration only)

The point of the example is not that templates are wrong. It is that the same document that would have worked perfectly well for a first marriage with shared children can quietly misfire in a blended family. Because the flaw only appears after death, no one is there to correct it. That is the recurring theme of DIY wills, and the reason many people in more involved situations choose to have their will drafted and checked. For the wider context of how a will sits alongside trusts and tax, see our estate planning guide.

Templates in Scotland and Northern Ireland

This guide describes the law of England and Wales, and a UK-labelled template will not always fit the other nations. Scotland has its own succession law, including legal rights that can entitle a spouse and children to a fixed share whatever the will says, so an England and Wales template can produce unexpected results north of the border. Northern Ireland has a separate but broadly similar system. Government guidance confirms there are different rules for Scotland and for Northern Ireland (gov.uk, as at June 2026). If your estate touches more than one jurisdiction, it can be worth checking the position in each.

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