In short
Do you need a solicitor to make a will in England? Not for a straightforward estate. Will writing is not a reserved legal activity. Validity is section 9 of the Wills Act 1837 — wet ink, two witnesses — not a letterhead. Use a solicitor for tax, trusts, foreign assets, blended-family protection, or a likely dispute. We stop you before payment if that is you.
This page is the honesty-gate cluster, not how to make a will in the UK and not the price table. A solicitor will at £150–£300 is the cheap part of getting a trust right. An online will at £35 is the cheap part of getting a simple residue clause signed.
The nine situations below are the same checklist as the 60-second test at /start/. Checked 22 August 2026.
Do you need a solicitor for a will at a glance?
Most straightforward England and Wales estates do not. Skip an online will for IHT planning, trusts, business or foreign assets, life-interest protection for children from a previous relationship, excluding a dependant, capacity doubts, special attestation, or mutual wills. SwiftWill is £35. A high-street will is often £150–£300. Neither is “more legal”.
Not reserved
Will writing is not a reserved legal activity. Legal Services Act 2007.
9 gates
If any apply, we refuse the sale and point you to the Law Society finder.
£325k
Nil-rate band, frozen until April 2031, plus up to £175k residence band.
£35
Online, once, free updates — only if none of the nine gates is you.
Do you need a solicitor to make a will?
No, not for a straightforward England and Wales estate. Will writing is not a reserved legal activity under the Legal Services Act 2007. A will is valid if it is in writing and signed with two witnesses present together — not because a solicitor drafted it. Skip an online will if any of the nine situations below is you; that is solicitor territory, and we say so before you pay. The process for a straightforward estate is how to make a will in the UK.
This is the exact checklist our 60-second suitability check applies before payment. Expand each item for the why. Checked 22 August 2026.
When should you definitely use a solicitor?
Use a solicitor for inheritance-tax planning, trusts, business or foreign assets, blended families who need a life-interest trust, care-fee planning, excluding a dependant, capacity doubts, special attestation, or mutual (binding) wills. Those are the nine gates. If none apply, a properly drafted online will signed correctly does the same legal job.
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.
What are the key inheritance tax figures?
The nil-rate band is £325,000, frozen since 2009 and until April 2031. An extra £175,000 residence nil-rate band can apply where a home passes to direct descendants, tapering above £2 million. Spouses can transfer unused bands. Tax above the bands is 40%. Pensions enter the IHT scope from April 2027. An estate near these bands with planning needs belongs with a solicitor.
| 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.
What does a solicitor add that an online will does not?
A solicitor adds tailored advice, tax and trust drafting, a capacity file if the will is challenged, and Legal Ombudsman recourse at SRA firms. An online will adds speed, a £35 one-time price, and free lifetime updates. Neither is “more legal”. Choose the tool that matches the estate — see is an online will legal?
| 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.
Can you start with an online will and see a solicitor later?
Yes. A simple signed will now is better than none while you wait for an appointment. If you later buy foreign property, start a business, or cross the IHT bands, a solicitor will revokes the old one. Do not sit intestate for a year “until we get around to the proper one”.
The exception is the nine gates: if you already know you need a trust, do not buy a £35 PDF as a placeholder. It will not do the trust job. We will have told you to stop.
What is a life-interest trust, and why is it not online?
It lets a partner live in the home for life, then the capital passes to someone else — often children from a first relationship. Drafted wrong, it creates tax and family disasters. Reputable online services do not offer it. If this is your situation, the suitability check sends you to a solicitor.
Mirror wills are not that lock. The survivor can change their will tomorrow. See mirror wills and second marriage with children.
Does SwiftWill refuse customers?
Yes. The 60-second check runs before payment. If your answers show you need legal advice, we stop, explain why, and point you to the Law Society Find a Solicitor service. That is the honesty gate. It costs us sales. It is the product.
The verdict: solicitor or online?
Online if the estate is straightforward and none of the nine gates apply. Solicitor if any gate applies. Validity is the same ceremony either way. This page is not a quote, not Scotland, and not permission to skip signing. Is an online will legal?
My situation is straightforward
Start my will — £35I need a solicitor
Find a solicitor (Law Society) →