Cheap online will writing services can be a false economy: Samantha Warner

Of those that do have wills, 22 per cent reported acquiring them from low-cost will writing websites and a further 22 per cent said they used a DIY will making kit.

Consequently, a significant proportion of the UK population either has no will in place at all or they are unable to guarantee that the individual that wrote or checked their will was adequately qualified to do so. Both observations are troubling and should be borne in mind by anyone thinking of taking advantage of low-cost will writing offers.

Unlike many civil law jurisdictions where the law dictates where some or all of your assets will pass on your death, we have the right in England and Wales to decide to whom our estate should be distributed.

This ‘testamentary freedom’ is a privilege but failing to prepare a will in exercise of that freedom could mean that you risk passing away without having directed where you would like your assets to go and without having appointed someone who you trust to administer your estate.

Your assets will instead be distributed in accordance with the laws of intestacy, and the burden of applying to the court to appoint an estate administrator will fall to your loved ones, creating unnecessary stress, additional costs, and delays at an already difficult time.

Whilst using a quick and inexpensive will writing service or a DIY kit may seem like a good solution, it comes with its own risks. As we and many of our fellow STEP members have seen first-hand, such wills often contain critical errors that go unnoticed until the family try to prove the will after your death.

Your will could be declared invalid if it wasn’t signed correctly, may be more vulnerable to challenge by any disgruntled beneficiaries or may even fail to express your testamentary intentions accurately. Perhaps most commonly, wills drafted without a thorough review or understanding of the individual’s circumstances, can create unfavourable tax consequences for your estate. In fact, a shocking one-third of the practitioners that responded to STEP’s survey said that they had encountered cases where mistakes in estate planning led to significant and unnecessary tax bills. Hence, online or DIY will writing may not be as low-cost as it seems, risking considerable financial and personal costs after your passing.

The bottom line is that not enough of the UK’s adult population have wills and many of the wills that are in place have not been drafted or checked by qualified practitioners. We advise everyone to put a will in place but to remember the old adage that ‘you get what you pay for’. It is crucial to verify the qualifications and professional experience of the draftsperson, look out for hidden costs in any free or low-cost offering, and ensure the person writing your will takes the time to properly understand the complexities of your estate, your wishes and your family circumstances.

Samantha Warner is Senior Associate at Winckworth Sherwood