How Much Does a Will Cost in the UK? (2026 Prices)

How much does a will cost in the UK?

A single will costs between £0 and £650 in 2026, depending on how it is made. The typical solicitor-checked online will is £19.99, including VAT.

Price tracks the level of service, not the legal strength of the will. Make a will online to see the exact process.

The cheapest route is a free will scheme, usually funded by a charity that hopes for a gift in return. The middle option is an online will, where you complete a guided questionnaire and a qualified solicitor checks the document. The most expensive route is a full solicitor appointment, where a professional drafts the last will and testament around your circumstances. All three produce a will that is equally valid once signed and witnessed correctly. If your estate planning also involves a lasting power of attorney, that carries a separate government fee and is worth a consultation of its own.

Will costs by route

Here is what each route charges for a single will and for a couple’s mirror wills. Read it as a menu, then match the route to how complex your estate is.

Route	What it costs
Free will	£0 for a single will through a charity scheme, usually with an expectation you leave the charity a gift and often capped to simple wills.
Online will	£19.99 for a single will, £29.99 for mirror wills, both including VAT and each checked by a qualified solicitor.
Solicitor will	£200 to £650 for a single will. Our own assisted, solicitor-checked service sits inside that band at £245 for a single will and £395 for couples, both including VAT, at the same price whether you do it by phone, at our office, or on a free home visit. One leading legal services brand lists mirror wills at £249, and many firms charge £400 to £650 plus VAT.
Will-writing company (unregulated)	£80 to £200, variable quality, not always solicitor-checked.

What makes a will cost more?

The price rises with the complexity of your estate, not the length of the document, since a simple will and a complex one can look similar on paper. They cost very different amounts.

The main things that push cost up are a blended family, business or agricultural assets, property abroad, an estate large enough to face inheritance tax, and any trust arrangement. Each of these needs tailored drafting and advice, which is where a solicitor’s fee earns its place. A straightforward estate, one home, some savings, and clear beneficiaries, needs none of that, which is why paying full solicitor rates for a simple will is usually money spent on capacity you do not use.

The extra costs people forget

Beyond the will itself, budget for storage, updates and probate, because these are where the real long-term cost sits. The headline price is rarely the whole picture.

• Storage: keeping the signed original safe. Our managed storage is £30 a year, giving your executors and any charity legacy the protection of a findable, secure original. The official probate service charges a one-off £24 for the life of the document. Home storage is free but risky.
• Updates: wills should change after a marriage, divorce, house move or new child. Our online wills include 28 days of free changes, then updates by codicil or a new will. Solicitors usually charge again for each revision.
• Probate later: after death, the estate may need a grant of probate. That is a separate cost for your executors, not part of the will price, but worth knowing about.

Is a cheap will safe?

A cheap will is safe if it is checked and signed correctly. Price does not decide legal validity, the Wills Act 1837 does.

The risk with a bargain will is a missing check, not the low price itself. See the official signing rules for exactly what makes a will valid.

A £19.99 solicitor-checked will is reviewed for the errors that void wills, such as a beneficiary witnessing the document. A £0 template with no review is where cheap becomes risky, because a small mistake goes unnoticed until it is too late to fix. So the question is not “how cheap” but “is it checked”. A low price with a solicitor check gives you the best of both.

How to keep will costs down without cutting corners

You can pay less for a will without risking its validity, as long as you keep the solicitor check. The trick is to stop paying for service you do not need, not to skip the review that keeps a will safe.

Three practical steps cut the cost. First, match the route to your estate: if it is straightforward, a solicitor-checked online will at £19.99 does the same legal job as a £400 appointment. Second, make mirror wills together as a couple rather than two separate wills, since the shared work brings the pair down to £29.99. Third, get it right first time with proper preparation by gathering your details before you start: your executors, your beneficiaries, guardians for children, and any specific gifts. That avoids paid revisions later.

What you should not cut is the check. A will with no professional review is where cheap turns expensive, because an error found after death cannot be fixed. Pay the small fee for a solicitor-checked document and save elsewhere.

What does it cost if you don’t have a will?

Dying without a will does not avoid cost, it usually increases it, and the official fees involved have just risen sharply. The “free” option of doing nothing is often the most expensive path of all.

Since 13 July 2026, the probate application fee for estates over £5,000 has risen from £300 to £526, a 75% increase set by the Ministry of Justice. Whether you have a will or not, most estates above that threshold now face this higher fee to be settled. Without a will, your estate is also distributed under the intestacy rules rather than your own wishes, which can mean an unmarried partner receives nothing at all. It can also require extra legal work to establish who is entitled to apply for probate in the first place.

A properly made will does not remove the probate fee, but it does remove the uncertainty, delay, and additional legal cost that often come with dying without a will. Spending £19.99 now is considerably cheaper than the legal fees involved in sorting out an estate with no will at all.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a basic will cost in the UK?

A basic single will costs £0 through a free charity scheme, £19.99 for a solicitor-checked online will, or £200 to £650 with a solicitor in person. For a simple estate, the online route gives you a professional check at the lowest paid price.

Why are solicitor wills so much more expensive?

Solicitor wills cost more because a professional drafts the will around your circumstances and gives tailored advice. That is worth it for complex estates with trusts, business assets or tax exposure. For a straightforward estate, a solicitor-checked online will covers you for far less.

Is it cheaper to write my own will?

Writing your own will from a blank template is free but risky, because no one checks it for the errors that make wills invalid. A solicitor-checked online will costs £19.99 and removes that risk, which is usually worth the small fee.

Do I have to pay to update my will?

It depends on the route. Our online wills include 28 days of free changes, then updates by codicil or a new will. Solicitors normally charge for each revision. Since wills should change after major life events, factor updating into the true cost.

Has the cost of probate gone up in 2026?

Yes. The court fee for applying for probate on estates over £5,000 rose from £300 to £526 on 13 July 2026, a 75% increase. This applies whether or not the person left a will, though dying without one often adds further legal costs on top.