Same Day Will: Can You Make One Today?

The drafting stage of an online will is fast, structured questions with your answers building the wording as you go. What takes longer, for anyone, is the thinking: deciding who your executor should be, whether you need guardians for children, and how you want to divide your estate. If you arrive at the process having already made these decisions, even loosely, you can complete the drafting in well under an hour.

The genuine time constraint on a same-day will is arranging your two witnesses. They need to be present with you at the same time when you sign, so the practical question is less 'can I finish the document today' and more 'can I get two people in a room with me today'.

Before you sit down to draft, decide who your executor will be (and a backup, in case they cannot act), roughly how you want your estate divided, and whether you need to name guardians for any children under 18. Having full names and addresses for executors, guardians and main beneficiaries ready also speeds things up considerably.

If you are drafting mirror wills with a partner, decide together whether you are leaving everything to each other first and who the backup beneficiaries are, since this keeps both documents consistent and avoids needing to go back and change one later.

Your witnesses do not need to be solicitors or professionals, any two independent adults will do, provided neither is a beneficiary under your will, and neither is married to or in a civil partnership with a beneficiary, since that would cause the beneficiary to lose their gift under section 15 of the Wills Act 1837. Neighbours, colleagues or friends who are not inheriting anything are all suitable.

Both witnesses must be present together when you sign, and they must then also sign the will themselves in your presence. Arranging this on short notice is usually easier than people expect, most people can find two willing colleagues or neighbours within a day.

A workable order for a same-day will: decide your key choices in the morning, complete the guided online questions (typically 30 to 60 minutes), review the draft carefully, then print it and arrange your two witnesses for later that day to sign. This is entirely achievable without cutting any legal corners.

If you cannot get two witnesses together on the same day, it is far better to sign a day or two later, once you have arranged them properly, than to rush the process or use witnesses who do not meet the legal requirements.

Speed should never mean skipping the rules. A will signed without two witnesses present together, or witnessed by a beneficiary, is either wholly invalid or partially ineffective, however quickly it was produced. If you are in genuine urgency, for example before surgery or travel, focus your effort on arranging correct witnessing quickly rather than shortcutting it.

If you are seriously unwell and cannot arrange witnesses in the ordinary way, seek urgent advice, since special provisions can sometimes apply, but these are not something to rely on when a properly witnessed will made in good time is achievable instead.