What Happens After Making Your Will Online

Once your online answers have produced a finished draft, print it and read it in full, not just the sections you remember answering. Check names are spelled correctly, addresses are current, and that any gifts and the residue clause say exactly what you intended.

If anything looks wrong or unclear, most services allow you to amend your answers and reprint before you sign, so use this opportunity rather than signing something you are not fully sure about.

Under section 9 of the Wills Act 1837, you must sign the will (or direct someone else to sign it for you) in the presence of two witnesses who are both present at the same time, and they must then also sign the will themselves in your presence. This order matters; a witness signing before or after the presence requirement is met can invalidate the document.

Your witnesses must be independent adults who are not beneficiaries under the will, and not married to or in a civil partnership with a beneficiary, otherwise that beneficiary's gift fails under section 15 of the Act. See our guide on how to sign a will for a full, step-by-step walkthrough.

A validly signed will still needs to be kept securely: a fireproof box at home, with a solicitor, or through a dedicated will storage service are all reasonable options. What matters most is that your executor knows exactly where it is, since a perfectly valid will nobody can find causes exactly the same problems as having no will at all.

See our guide on where to store a will for a full comparison of the options and their costs.

Let your named executor know they have been appointed, and roughly what is involved, so it is not a complete surprise if the time comes. You do not have to share every detail of the will's contents if you would rather keep them private, but they should know they hold the role and where the document is kept.

It is also worth telling close family that a will exists, even if you do not disclose its contents, since this avoids confusion or unnecessary disputes later about whether you left a will at all.

A will is not something you make once and forget. Marriage or entering a civil partnership automatically revokes an earlier will, unless it was made in specific contemplation of that marriage, so this always needs a new will. Divorce does not revoke a will, but it does treat your former spouse as having died for the purposes of gifts and executor appointments to them, which can leave gaps you need to fix.

Other good reasons to revisit your will include the birth of a child, a significant change in your assets, or simply a change of mind about an executor or beneficiary. See our guide on when to update your will for a fuller list of triggers.