Why Use a Solicitor for Your Will?

Will disputes in England and Wales are rising sharply. Caveat applications — the legal mechanism used to block probate — rose 56% in five years, topping 11,000 in 2024. An estimated 10,000 families dispute wills every year. In most cases, a professionally drafted will would have prevented the dispute entirely.

If you’re thinking about writing or updating your will, here’s what you need to know about why using a solicitor matters more than ever.

DIY wills are behind most disputes

More than one in five wills in the UK are now written without legal advice. The consequences are significant: errors in wording, ambiguous instructions, and incorrect execution are among the most common reasons wills are challenged in court.

A will that seems straightforward to you may contain gaps a solicitor would have spotted immediately. And unlike most legal documents, a will can’t be corrected after the person who made it has died. By then, it’s too late.

Capacity and undue influence: growing concerns

With over 500,000 people in the UK currently living with dementia, questions about mental capacity at the time a will was signed are increasingly common grounds for dispute. Courts also scrutinise whether a person was pressured into making or changing a will.

When a solicitor prepares a will, they take detailed attendance notes and, where appropriate, arrange capacity assessments. These records are often decisive if a will is later challenged. A DIY will has none of that protection built in.

Family complexity has made will-writing harder

Blended families, second marriages, estranged children, and competing claims from cohabitants have all become more common. Each situation brings its own legal considerations. A solicitor won’t just write down what you say — they’ll ask the right questions, identify risks you may not have considered, and make sure your intentions are clearly documented and legally sound.

What a solicitor actually does for you

Instructing a solicitor to write your will isn’t just about getting the legal language right. It’s about making sure your estate is structured in a way that reflects your wishes, protects the people you care about, and reduces the risk of disputes. Specifically, a solicitor can:

• Advise on inheritance tax planning to reduce the tax your estate pays
• Make provision for digital assets and business interests
• Set up trusts to protect vulnerable or young beneficiaries
• Guide your executors so they understand what’s expected of them
• Maintain records that stand up to scrutiny if the will is contested

The cost of getting it wrong

Probate disputes are expensive, time-consuming, and deeply damaging to family relationships. High Court cases can take years and cost tens of thousands of pounds. Even where a dispute is settled before court, the legal fees, delays, and emotional toll are significant.

The cost of instructing a solicitor to prepare your will is, by comparison, modest. More importantly, it’s money spent protecting the people who matter most to you.