Online will vs solicitor

Last reviewed 18 August 2026

The choice is not simply cheap against dear, but simple against complex — and reading your own affairs correctly is the whole of the decision.

When an online will is enough

For a straightforward estate — a couple leaving everything to each other and then the children, no business, no trusts, no foreign property — an online will at around £90 is usually perfectly sufficient, provided it is signed and witnessed correctly. It is quick, cheap, and, if used within its limits, sound.

When to instruct a solicitor

Where the affairs are not simple — a blended family, a business, property abroad, a disabled beneficiary, a wish to set up a trust, or any real prospect of a dispute — a solicitor regulated by the SRA earns the extra cost by getting the structure right. A cheap will that fails is the most expensive kind there is, because the error only surfaces when you are no longer there to fix it.

Sources. Provider pricing (cited per provider at build); GOV.UK, Making a will; Wills Act 1837.