How much does it cost to have a will written in the UK?

The honest answer is somewhere between nothing and several hundred pounds, and which end of that range applies to you depends almost entirely on how complex your estate is. A straightforward single will through a solicitor typically costs £150 to £300. Online services such as Farewill or Kwil start from around £90. Charity will schemes can bring the cost down to zero. And if your affairs are genuinely simple, a carefully completed template might cost you only a few pounds in printer ink.

That said, "simple" is doing a lot of work in that last sentence. More on that shortly.

What does a solicitor charge for a basic will?

For a single, straightforward will, one beneficiary structure, no trusts, no foreign assets, most high street solicitors charge between £150 and £300 including VAT. The Law Society doesn't set a fixed fee, so prices vary by region and firm. In Greater Manchester, where I spent my working life, you'll generally pay less than you would at a London firm handling the same work.

Mirror wills for a couple, which leave everything to each other and then to the same beneficiaries on the second death, are usually priced as a pair. Expect £200 to £500 for both. It's rarely double the single price.

Where costs rise sharply is when your estate has complications. If you own property abroad, run a business, have children from a previous relationship, or want to set up a trust for a vulnerable beneficiary, fees can reach £600 to over £1,000. That's not overcharging; it's reflecting the legal complexity involved.

I'd suggest asking for a fixed quote upfront rather than an hourly rate where possible. Most solicitors doing will work will give you one.

How much do online will writing services cost?

Farewill, the UK's largest online will writer, charges £90 for a single will and £135 for a couple's mirror wills at the time of writing. Kwil, Wills Online and similar services sit in a comparable range, typically £50 to £150 for straightforward cases.

These services work well for genuinely simple estates. You answer a structured questionnaire, the document is generated, and you print, sign and have it witnessed. The signing and witnessing step is where many people come unstuck, and I'll come back to that.

One thing worth knowing: online will services are not regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Will writing itself is an unregulated activity in England and Wales (Scotland has different rules). Anyone can set up a will writing company. Some online services are run by qualified lawyers; others are not. If you go this route, look for membership of the Society of Will Writers or the Institute of Professional Will Writers, which have their own codes of practice.

What are Free Will Week and charity will schemes?

Twice a year, a coalition of charities runs Free Will Week, during which participating solicitors write a basic will for free. The scheme is aimed at people aged 55 and over. In exchange, you're asked to consider leaving a gift to one of the partner charities in your will. There is no obligation whatsoever to do so.

The solicitors taking part are regulated professionals doing real work. This isn't a cut-price service. I've seen people come away from Free Will Week with perfectly sound documents prepared by experienced practitioners.

You can find current dates and participating solicitors at freewillweek.org. The National Free Wills Network runs a similar scheme throughout the year rather than just during set weeks, again connecting older adults with local solicitors at no cost.

Age UK also partners with solicitors through their own will writing scheme, which offers discounted rates even outside free-will periods. It's worth a phone call to your local Age UK office to see what's available in your area.

When is DIY genuinely risky?

A will written on a piece of paper in your own handwriting, signed and witnessed correctly, is legally valid in England and Wales. Template wills from WH Smith or downloaded from GOV.UK are also used without professional help by thousands of people every year.

For some people, this is fine. If you're single, have no dependants, own no property, and simply want to leave everything to one adult sibling, a carefully completed template carries less risk than it might for someone in a more complex situation.

But DIY goes wrong in predictable ways, and the consequences land on the people you were trying to look after.

The situations where I'd urge you strongly to use a solicitor, or at minimum a regulated online service with human review:

• You have children from a previous relationship, particularly if your current partner has children too.
• You own property jointly and you're not certain whether it's held as joint tenants or tenants in common (these have very different implications for inheritance).
• You want to leave money to a grandchild who might receive benefits and could lose entitlement if they inherit directly.
• You're not married to your partner. Cohabiting partners have no automatic inheritance rights in England and Wales.
• You have any assets outside the UK.

This is not an exhaustive list. It's just the situations I saw come unstuck most often during my years in social work, when families were trying to sort out an estate left by someone who thought their affairs were straightforward.

Are mirror wills the right choice for couples?

Mirror wills are the standard approach for married couples or civil partners with similar wishes: you leave everything to each other, and when the second of you dies, the estate goes to your agreed beneficiaries (usually children or grandchildren).

They're called mirror wills because each will reflects the other. They're usually cheaper than two entirely separate wills, and for many couples they're entirely appropriate.

What mirror wills don't do is lock anything in. Each will is a separate legal document, and either person can change theirs after the other has died. If you're in a second marriage and worried that the surviving spouse might later redirect assets away from children of your first marriage, mirror wills alone won't protect against that. A solicitor can explain the options, which include mutual wills (a legally binding variation) or a trust.

This is exactly the kind of conversation worth having with a professional rather than trying to work out from a template.

Does where you live in the UK affect the cost?

Yes, somewhat. Solicitor fees tend to be lower in the north of England, Wales and Northern Ireland than in London and the South East. Scotland operates under a different legal system entirely, and while will writing there follows similar principles, the terminology and some rules differ.

In Scotland, for instance, there are "prior rights" and "legal rights" that can override what a will says in certain circumstances, particularly for spouses and children. If you live in Scotland, use a Scottish solicitor or a service specifically covering Scots law.

Northern Ireland largely follows English law on wills but again has local practitioners who will know the relevant specifics. For a broader overview of how wills fit into later-life planning, see our guide to wills and lasting power of attorney.

What should I actually pay?

There's no single right answer, but here's how I'd think about it.

If your estate is genuinely simple and you're confident about the witnessing rules, an online service like Farewill at £90 is reasonable. If you're 55 or over and your affairs are straightforward, Free Will Week or the National Free Wills Network costs you nothing and gives you a solicitor-prepared document.

If there's any complexity at all, a solicitor charging £200 to £300 is money well spent. The cost of unpicking a poorly written will through probate, or the cost of a family dispute that a clearer document would have prevented, runs to far more than that.

One last thing: don't put it off because of the cost. A will written today, even an imperfect one, is better than no will at all. Dying intestate in England and Wales means the state decides who gets what, and the rules often produce outcomes that bear no relation to what you actually wanted. Getting something in place now, and updating it properly later, is the sensible approach.