The nine situations that need a solicitor
This is the exact checklist our 60-second suitability check applies before payment. If any of these is you, an online will is the wrong tool — expand each for the why.
1. Inheritance tax planning or trusts
Estates above the nil-rate band (£325,000, frozen until April 2031, plus up to £175,000 residence nil-rate band where a home passes to direct descendants, tapering above £2m) can face 40% tax — and planning around it is individual work. Trusts (discretionary, life-interest, vulnerable-beneficiary) must be drafted to your circumstances; a wrongly drafted trust creates tax and family disasters.
2. Business assets or shares
A business or private-company shares raise valuation questions, business property relief, succession of control, and conflicts with shareholder or partnership agreements. The will must be coordinated with your business arrangements — solicitor work.
3. Foreign property or assets, or domicile complications
Foreign property is usually governed by the law of the country where it sits, and your domicile affects both validity and inheritance tax. Expats and owners of overseas assets need advice that accounts for every jurisdiction involved.
4. Blended families needing protection
If you have children from a previous relationship and leave everything to a new partner, the survivor can later change their will and your children could inherit nothing — the “sideways disinheritance” problem. The standard fix is a life-interest trust, which online services deliberately do not offer.
5. Care-fee planning or severance of tenancy
Arrangements designed to shield assets from care fees, or changing how your home is co-owned (severing a joint tenancy) for planning purposes, have legal and deprivation-of-assets implications that need individual advice.
6. Deliberately excluding a dependant
Under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, spouses, former spouses, cohabiting partners of 2+ years, children and anyone you financially supported can claim against your estate — and courts can override your will. Exclusions in these categories need a solicitor's care and a proper paper trail.
7. Capacity doubts, undue influence, or a likely dispute
Where capacity could later be questioned — elderly or seriously ill testators — the “golden rule” is that a medical professional should witness or assess capacity, and a solicitor's file becomes the evidence that defends the will. If a dispute is likely, that file is worth more than the document.
8. Blind, illiterate or non-English-reading testators
These situations need special attestation clauses recording that the will was read over to (and understood by) the testator before signing. Getting this wrong is a classic ground of challenge.
9. Mutual wills (binding pairs)
Mirror wills — the kind online services make — are not binding: either partner can change their own will at any time. If you want wills that genuinely lock each other in, that is a mutual will, and it needs a solicitor.
The key tax figures, for reference
| Threshold | Amount / rule |
|---|---|
| Nil-rate band (NRB) | £325,000 — frozen since 2009, frozen until April 2031 |
| Residence nil-rate band (RNRB) | Additional £175,000 where a home is left to direct descendants (tapers away for estates above £2m) |
| Transferable between spouses | Up to £1m per couple can pass free of IHT in the standard case |
| Rate above the bands | 40% |
| Pensions | Enter the IHT scope from April 2027 |
Figures per HMRC guidance on gov.uk/inheritance-tax. An estate anywhere near these bands with planning needs belongs with a solicitor.
What a solicitor adds vs what an online will does well
| A solicitor adds | An online will does well |
|---|---|
| Tailored advice on your specific circumstances | Speed — will in your inbox in seconds |
| Inheritance tax planning and trust drafting | Price — £35 once vs £150–£300+ |
| Dispute-proofing: capacity evidence, file records | Simplicity — plain-English questions, about 15 minutes |
| Regulated recourse via the Legal Ombudsman (SRA firms) | Free updates for life, no appointments |
We would rather lose a sale than sell you the wrong document.
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