How much does a will cost in the UK in 2026?
An honest, no-jargon look at what you should expect to pay — and what you actually get for the money.
There is no single answer to the question 'how much does a will cost in the UK?'. Prices in 2026 range from completely free (using a charity will scheme during one of the November Free Wills Month promotions) up to several thousand pounds for a complex estate handled by a partner-level solicitor in a London firm. Where you sit on that spectrum depends on three things: how complicated your situation is, who you ask to draft it, and how much hand-holding you want along the way. This guide walks through every option, with real prices, and explains what you actually get for the money.
DIY wills (free to about £30). You can buy a will template from any high-street stationer, download one from a will-writing software provider, or simply hand-write one on a sheet of paper. As long as the document is signed by you and witnessed by two adult witnesses (neither of whom benefits under the will), it is legally valid under section 9 of the Wills Act 1837. The trouble is that DIY wills are the single most common cause of probate disputes. Ambiguous wording, missing executors, badly worded gifts, witnesses who are also beneficiaries, and unclear residuary clauses can render parts of a DIY will void or trigger costly legal challenges. A study of contested wills in 2023 by Hugh James Solicitors put the proportion involving home-made or template wills at roughly 38%. Cheap at the time, expensive at the end.
Charity will schemes (free to about £100 'suggested donation'). November is Free Wills Month and October is Will Aid month — both run by charity coalitions that pair up will-writing professionals with the public, in exchange for a suggested donation to charity rather than a fee. They are excellent value for a straightforward will, but slots fill quickly and complex situations are usually outside the scheme. If you are a healthy adult with a simple estate and you want to leave a charitable legacy in your will anyway, a Free Wills Month appointment is hard to beat.
Online will services (£30 to £200). Companies like Farewill, Co-op Legal Services and a handful of newer entrants offer online wills via a guided web form, with optional review by a qualified will writer. Prices typically start around £90 for a single will. The product is good for very simple estates — homeowner, married, two children, all to spouse and then split equally — but it does not handle complex situations well, the human review (where offered) is brief, and there is no one sitting at your table catching the things you forgot to mention.
Will writers (£90 to £400 for a single will). Will writers are specialist drafters who, while not solicitors, are typically members of the Society of Will Writers (SWW) or the Institute of Professional Will Writers (IPW), carry full professional indemnity insurance, and follow industry codes of conduct. A typical Will Guard single will is £95, a mirror will for a couple is £165, and a complex will containing trusts is £225 to £450. Home visits, drafting, signing and free changes for the first 30 days are usually included. Prices are fixed in writing before any work begins. For most ordinary estates, a will writer offers significantly better value than a high-street solicitor with no real difference in the quality of the document.
High-street solicitors (£200 to £600 for a single will). A traditional high-street solicitor will charge between £200 and £400 plus VAT for a basic single will, with mirror wills typically £350 to £500 plus VAT. Many firms now offer fixed fees for straightforward work, but hourly rates of £180 to £280 plus VAT still apply for anything more complicated. The advantage of a solicitor is regulatory: solicitors are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and have access to the Compensation Fund. The disadvantage is cost, and the unfortunate fact that many high-street firms have largely stopped doing wills in-house and outsource them to the same will-writing companies you could approach directly.
Specialist or city firm solicitors (£500 to £3,000+). If your estate is genuinely complex — significant business interests, agricultural land, international assets, a non-domiciled spouse, a planned trust structure for tax planning purposes — a specialist private client solicitor is the right choice and the prices reflect it. Expect £500 to £1,500 for a sophisticated single will, more for full estate planning advice, and into four figures if multiple wills, trust deeds and tax counsel are involved. A small minority of estates need this level of work; most do not.
What about lasting powers of attorney? An LPA registered with the Office of the Public Guardian costs £82 in registration fees per LPA (so £164 for both Property & Finance and Health & Welfare), and most providers add a drafting fee on top — typically £80 to £200 per LPA at a will writer, £150 to £300 at a solicitor. We charge £165 per LPA all in (drafting plus the OPG fee), with a discount for multiple LPAs taken together.
What about will storage? Bonded fireproof storage typically costs £15 to £40 per year. Registration with the National Will Register (Certainty) is around £30 as a one-off. Together they ensure your will can always be located by your executors. Many will writers offer the first year of storage free as part of the drafting fee.
What you should not pay for. Be wary of any quote that involves a 'lifetime membership' to a will-writing service, an automatic enrolment into expensive ongoing storage subscriptions, or a hard-sell of trusts you do not actually need. The classic asset protection trust scam involves bundling unnecessary trust structures into a £3,000 'estate planning package' that achieves nothing a properly drafted will and a £165 LPA could not. If anyone tells you that putting your house into a trust will protect it from care fees regardless of when you do it, walk away — the rules on 'deliberate deprivation of assets' under the Care Act 2014 are strict and well-enforced.
Our honest recommendation. For most people in 2026, a fixed-fee will writer in the £95 to £225 range gives you the best balance of price, quality and personal service. For genuinely complex estates, a specialist solicitor is worth the higher fee. For very simple situations and where you intend to leave a charitable legacy, a Free Wills Month slot is excellent value. DIY wills should be a last resort and never for anything more complicated than a perfectly straightforward 'all to spouse, then 50/50 to two kids' situation — and even then, a £95 professional will is a better insurance policy than the £10 you might save.