What is the current status of the Wills Bill?
Not introduced to Parliament, and not law (checked 24 September 2026). The Law Commission published its final report and a draft Bill for a new Wills Act on 16 May 2025 (Law Commission wills project). On the same day the Ministry of Justice welcomed the report and said it would give it detailed consideration (government response). In answers to written parliamentary questions on 19 September 2025 and 26 November 2025, the government said it was giving the report careful consideration and would announce next steps in the near future (question 76838, question 92745). A search of the UK Parliament bills database on 24 September 2026 found no Wills Bill before Parliament.
Until an Act is passed and brought into force, the Wills Act 1837 applies in full. The signing steps are in how to sign and witness a will.
What would the draft Bill change?
These are the main recommendations in the Law Commission's summary of the report, compared with the law today.
| Topic | Proposal | Law today |
|---|---|---|
| Electronic wills | Electronic wills would be valid if a reliable system links the signature to the signer, identifies the will and protects it from alteration. | The Law Commission says it is unclear whether an electronic will could be valid. Sign a paper will. |
| Remote witnessing | For electronic wills only, witnesses could be present by video call. | Both witnesses must be physically present. Video witnessing covered only wills made from 31 January 2020 to 31 January 2024. |
| Dispensing power | A court could treat a document as a valid will even if the formalities were not met, where it is satisfied the document records the person's intentions. | A will that fails section 9 of the Wills Act 1837 is invalid. |
| Marriage revoking a will | Marriage and civil partnership would no longer revoke an existing will. | Marriage or civil partnership revokes a will unless it was made expecting that marriage (sections 18 and 18B). |
| Minimum age | Lowered from 18 to 16, with the Family Court able to authorise a younger child in exceptional cases. | 18 (section 7), with exceptions for soldiers in actual military service and sailors at sea (section 11). |
| Capacity | The Mental Capacity Act 2005 test would apply to wills, with a code of practice on assessing testamentary capacity. | Capacity is judged under the common-law test from Banks v Goodfellow (1870). |
| Undue influence | A court could infer undue influence where there are reasonable grounds to suspect it, shifting the burden to the person relying on the will. | The person alleging undue influence must prove it. |
| Gifts to witnesses | The rule would extend to a witness's cohabitant and to anyone signing for the testator, with a court power to save a gift where just and reasonable. | Gifts to a witness or their spouse or civil partner are void (section 15), unless the will was validly witnessed without them. |
| Rectification | A court could correct a will that does not reflect the testator's intentions for wider reasons, including drafting errors. | Rectification is limited to clerical errors and failure to understand instructions (Administration of Justice Act 1982, section 20). |
What has happened so far?
- July 2017: Law Commission consultation paper, Making a Will.
- October 2023: supplementary consultation on electronic wills and the marriage revocation rule.
- 16 May 2025: final report, Modernising Wills Law, and draft Bill published. Government welcomes the report.
- 19 September and 26 November 2025: ministers say next steps will be announced in the near future.
- 5 June 2026: a separate government consultation, A fairer end to relationships, asks about inheritance rights for cohabitants when there is no will. It does not implement the draft Wills Bill. See wills for unmarried couples.
- 24 September 2026: no Wills Bill before Parliament.
Should you wait for the new law before making a will?
No. There is no timetable, the proposals may change, and if you die without a valid will the intestacy rules decide who inherits. Under the current law:
- print the will and sign it in ink;
- sign in front of two witnesses, both physically present at the same time;
- each witness then signs in your presence;
- do not let a beneficiary, or their spouse or civil partner, witness (who can witness a will).
A will made properly today will not become invalid because the law changes later, and you can replace it at any time; see changing your will. This page is updated when the position changes. You can follow updates through the SwiftWill RSS feed.
Sources
- Law Commission: Wills project and Modernising Wills Law, summary of the report (16 May 2025)
- Ministry of Justice: Government response to the Law Commission report (16 May 2025)
- UK Parliament written answer 76838 (19 September 2025) and 92745 (26 November 2025)
- UK Parliament: Bills before Parliament (searched 24 September 2026)
- Wills Act 1837: sections 7, 9, 11, 15 and 18
- Administration of Justice Act 1982, section 20
- Ministry of Justice: Guidance on making wills using video-conferencing
Sources checked 24 September 2026.