How does the will planner work?
Each answer adds or removes steps from your checklist. Every plan includes choosing beneficiaries and executors, checking what passes outside a will, arranging signing and leaving a handover for your executors. The other steps depend on your answers:
| Question | If you answer yes or not sure |
|---|---|
| Where is your permanent home? | Anywhere other than England or Wales: the plan points you to a provider for your jurisdiction, because the rules differ. |
| Does anything need specialist advice? | The plan starts with getting advice, and its button leads to when you need a solicitor instead of the will interview. |
| Children under 18? | Adds guardianship planning and checking who has parental responsibility. |
| Planning with a partner? | Adds a step on separate wills and what mirror wills can and cannot do. |
| Already have a will? | Adds finding and reviewing it, and not destroying it before a replacement is properly signed. |
Only a plan with no identified complexity offers the route into SwiftWill's paid interview, and that interview asks its own suitability questions before you can buy.
What should you gather before writing a will?
Prepare the names and addresses of your beneficiaries and executors, any guardians you wish to appoint, and your wishes if someone dies before you. Ask the people involved before naming them. Keep an asset list separately; never put passwords or private wallet keys in a will.
If you have animals, read about planning for your pets: agree who can care for them and prepare an emergency contact before naming a carer in the will.
What decisions are worth making before opening the questionnaire?
| Decision | What to prepare |
|---|---|
| Who should act? | Choose willing executors and consider who could act if the first choice cannot. Collect their full names and addresses. |
| Who should inherit? | Distinguish specific gifts from the remainder of your estate. Decide what should happen if a beneficiary dies before you. |
| Who depends on you? | Identify children and other dependants. Consider guardians where appropriate and get advice about additional needs or difficult family arrangements. |
| What passes separately? | Check the ownership of your home and contact pension and insurance providers about their arrangements. An asset list alone does not tell you what your will controls. |
| How will you finish? | Plan printing, independent witnesses, a safe place for the original and a way for your executors to find it. |
When should you get advice first?
When your will is not straightforward. GOV.UK gives examples: you share a property with someone who is not your husband, wife or civil partner; you want to leave money or property to a dependant who cannot care for themselves; several family members may make a claim, such as a second spouse or children from another marriage; your permanent home is outside the UK; you have property overseas; or you have a business. The planner treats uncertainty as a reason to check before buying.
How does the planner handle different situations?
Example: a parent with straightforward wishes. Someone living in England or Wales, with children and no identified complexity, receives steps to consider guardians, choose executors and prepare beneficiary wishes. That is a preparation route. The paid interview still asks separate suitability questions before any document is purchased.
Example: a couple unsure how their home is owned. Selecting “not sure” about complexity directs them towards advice. They should find out whether they own as joint tenants or tenants in common before assuming either person can leave a share in a will. The planner does not inspect a property title or recommend changing it.
These examples illustrate how the tool routes answers; they are not customer stories or individual recommendations. Read what a will does not cover if your uncertainty concerns pensions, property or lifetime decisions.
What happens after you have a document?
A will is only valid once it is signed properly. GOV.UK says you must sign it in the presence of two witnesses who are both over 18, and they must sign it in your presence; a witness or their married partner cannot inherit under it. Keep the original safe, tell your executor where it is, and review it every five years and after major changes. See how to sign a will, and use the free executor handover to organise practical information.
Sources
- GOV.UK: Making a will, writing your will
- GOV.UK: Make sure your will is legal
- GOV.UK: Update your will
Sources checked 24 September 2026.