Questions, answered plainly

No. WillWay is not a law firm. We are not solicitors, we are not regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and we don’t give legal advice. Our will-writing service is not a regulated legal service: it gives you a guided way to prepare your own straightforward will from your own instructions. If you need advice about your situation, please speak to a solicitor.

Not necessarily. Many people with straightforward wishes prepare their own will. But if your circumstances are complicated, or you’d like someone to advise you on what to do, a solicitor is the right choice. Our eligibility checker will tell you if your answers point that way.

Adults aged 18 or over who live in England or Wales and want a straightforward will. Before you start, our eligibility checker asks a short set of questions to confirm the service suits you.

WillWay isn’t suitable if you have property or money abroad, business or farm assets, want to set up trusts or plan for inheritance tax, care for someone who can’t manage their own affairs, or think someone may challenge your will. It also isn’t suitable if someone depends on you financially or could expect provision from your estate, if you’re planning to marry or enter a civil partnership, if you’re going through a divorce, dissolution or separation, or if parental responsibility or a court order affects your children. In those cases, a solicitor is likely to suit you better.

Some situations, such as a planned marriage, an ongoing separation, court orders about children or people who depend on you, need wording and judgement that a standard will can’t safely provide. Asking up front means we can tell you before you’ve spent any time or money.

The checker explains why and suggests what to do next. You won’t have paid anything, because payment only happens at the very end.

Not at the moment. Wills work differently there, so WillWay only covers England and Wales.

No. A will must reflect the wishes of the person making it, so each person needs to complete their own questionnaire. Someone can sit with you while you do it, but the decisions and answers must be your own.

Each person makes their own separate will, with their own questionnaire and order. Many couples choose similar wishes, but each will stands on its own.

£30 for your will as a digital PDF. If you’d also like a printed copy sent by Special Delivery, choose that option for £40 in total.

Only at the end. You check your eligibility, answer the questionnaire and review your answers first, then go to payment.

No extras are added for the standard service. If any delivery charge applies to the printed option, it’s shown at checkout before you pay.

Securely at checkout, using the payment methods shown there.

Our refund and cancellation terms are set out in our refund policy and terms of service, linked at the bottom of every page. If you have a question about a refund, please contact us.

There are 10 short steps. How long they take depends on your circumstances, and you can come back whenever you like.

Your own full name, date of birth and address. For the people you include, you’ll need full names and addresses for executors and any guardians or trustees, and full names for everyone who receives something under your will. You’ll also need dates of birth for your children and for everyone who inherits, including anyone you name to receive a gift or share instead.

Each answer helps make your will clear, so your executors know exactly who you mean and what you want. Look for the small “i” next to a question to see why we ask it.

Yes, if you choose to. At the start, tick “Keep my answers on this device” and your answers are saved in that browser as you go. Come back on the same device and browser to pick up where you left off. If you don’t tick it, your answers are kept only until you close the browser tab. Kept answers are deleted from the device after 30 days, or once your order is placed.

Leave “Keep my answers on this device” unticked. That’s the default, so your answers are kept only until you close the browser tab. Close the tab when you’ve finished.

For anyone who receives something under your will, including anyone you name to receive it instead, you can tell us you don’t know their address. Executors, guardians and trustees need a full address so they can be identified.

Executors deal with your estate after you die. They gather in what you own, pay any debts and share out the rest as your will says.

Between one and four. Choose adults you trust who are likely to be willing and able to do the job. An executor can also be someone who inherits under your will.

Yes. You can name up to two replacements, who only step in if one of your executors can’t or won’t act.

With WillWay, yes. Our standard service appoints all your executors to act together. If you need a different arrangement, please speak to a solicitor.

A guardian looks after a child under 18 if no one with parental responsibility for them survives you.

You can name a guardian, but the appointment usually only takes effect if no one with parental responsibility survives you. While the other parent with parental responsibility is alive, they would normally continue to care for your child.

Court orders and unclear parental responsibility can change who is able to care for a child, so guardianship needs individual advice in those cases.

Yes, within clear limits. You can leave a fixed sum of money in pounds, or a particular personal item you own outright in your own name, to a named person aged 18 or over, or a fixed sum of money to a charity. Each item needs a description precise enough to identify it, for example “my silver Omega Seamaster watch” rather than “my jewellery”.

Not with WillWay. Gifts of land or buildings raise questions our standard service doesn’t cover. A home you own in your sole name can still pass as part of the rest of your estate, shared by percentage. If you own property jointly, it may pass to the other owner automatically, whatever your will says.

Everything you own after debts, expenses and any specific gifts. You share it between your beneficiaries in percentages that add up to 100%.

Yes, as a specific gift of a fixed sum of money. Use the charity’s full official name, as it appears on the charity register, and its registered charity number if you know it. WillWay can’t leave a percentage of your estate, or the rest of your estate, to a charity.

Yes, as a share of the rest of your estate. This version of WillWay can’t include specific gifts to children under 18. We ask for every beneficiary’s date of birth and the age they should become entitled to their share (18, 21 or 25). If they’re younger than that age, we ask who should look after the share until then, whether it can be used for their education, maintenance or benefit, and who should receive it if they die before that age.

You choose. Their share can be divided between your other surviving beneficiaries in proportion to their shares, or go to someone you name. For a specific gift, it can become part of the rest of your estate or go to someone you name.

You name fallback beneficiaries who inherit instead, with shares that also add up to 100%. If a fallback beneficiary dies before you, their share goes to your other surviving fallback beneficiaries. If none of them survives you, the rules of intestacy may apply.

You can choose who inherits, but some people can ask a court to change how an estate is shared, such as someone who depended on you. If anyone depends on you or could expect provision from your estate, WillWay isn’t suitable and a solicitor can advise you.

No. We don’t give tax advice. If inheritance tax is a concern, please speak to a solicitor or tax adviser. Our page on dying without a will includes some general background.

No. Funeral wishes aren’t legally binding. Your executors and family should treat them as guidance rather than instructions. We keep your wording exactly as you write it.

It’s for administrative review by our team only and isn’t automatically included in your will. We may contact you about it. If it describes something our standard service can’t do, we’ll let you know.

Your home or other land or buildings; particular bank or savings accounts, ISAs, shares or investments; pensions or life insurance; business interests; anything owned jointly, on finance or kept outside the UK; digital assets or cryptocurrency; pets; percentages of your estate; gifts with conditions; and gifts to anyone under 18. Most of these can still pass under the rest of your estate. If you want to leave one to a particular person, please speak to a solicitor.

The gift usually fails, and the person receives nothing in its place. If you sell, give away or replace an item you’ve left to someone, it’s worth reviewing your will.

We aim to have it ready within two working days. We’ll email you when it’s ready to download. If anything in your answers is missing or unclear, we’ll contact you first.

As a PDF to download. If you chose the printed option, a copy is also posted to you by Special Delivery.

We check that your answers are complete and consistent before your document is released. This isn’t legal advice, and we don’t advise on whether your choices suit your circumstances.

Contact us as soon as possible and we’ll help. Please don’t edit the document yourself.

If we find your answers fall outside what our standard service covers, we’ll contact you to explain. Our terms of service set out what happens next.

Not on its own. Your will only becomes valid once it has been printed, signed and witnessed correctly. We include clear signing guidance with your will.

Sign it in front of two witnesses who are both there at the same time. They then sign it in front of you. Follow the signing guide step by step.

Two independent adults aged 18 or over. A witness, or their husband, wife or civil partner, shouldn’t benefit from your will, or they could lose their gift.

An executor can be a witness as long as they, and their husband, wife or civil partner, don’t benefit from your will. To keep things simple, many people choose witnesses who aren’t involved at all.

No. Print your will and sign it in ink, with both witnesses physically present in the same room.

Somewhere safe and dry, and tell your executors where it is. Don’t staple, unstaple or attach anything to the signed pages.

There’s no requirement to register a will in England and Wales. The important thing is that your executors can find the signed original.

Yes. Review your will whenever your circumstances change. Don’t make handwritten changes to a signed will; a new will or a properly signed codicil may be needed.

Yes. In England and Wales, getting married or entering a civil partnership usually cancels an existing will, and divorce changes how it treats a former partner. It’s worth making a new will after either.

Not necessarily. An old address doesn’t stop your will working, but if you’re reviewing your will anyway, it’s a good time to update it.

Yes, as long as you’re still eligible. Each new will is a new order. Once your new will is signed and witnessed, it replaces your earlier ones.

We use your answers to produce your will and to contact you about your order. Our privacy policy, linked at the bottom of every page, explains this in full.

Your answers are attached to your order, which is only accessible to the WillWay team. We use them to prepare your will and don’t use them for marketing.

Only if you choose. By default, your answers are kept in your browser tab only while you work. If you tick “Keep my answers on this device”, they’re saved in that browser so you can come back, and deleted automatically after 30 days or once your order is placed.

Yes. Contact us to ask about the personal information we hold, including asking for it to be deleted. Some records may need to be kept for legal or accounting reasons, as explained in our privacy policy.

Yes. A will naturally names other people, such as executors and beneficiaries. We only use their details to prepare your will.

We ask your browser not to autofill or store the names and addresses you enter for other people, although some browsers may still offer to. On a shared computer, leave “Keep my answers on this device” unticked and close the tab when you’ve finished.