1 in 5 Wills now made online

A recent study has revealed that almost 20% of Wills are now made using an online service.

TenMinuteWill was one of the pioneers of online Wills in 2002, automating and streamlining the process of producing a legally binding Will so that it can normally be done in under 10 minutes.

We have noticed more and more people are realising that it doesn’t matter who wrote your Will or how: so long as it is correctly signed & witnessed, and provided that it is correctly worded, a Will produced from an online service is 100% legally binding.

Reform of the Wills Act 1837

The long-awaited Law Commission Report on modernising the law relating to Wills, published on 16 May 2025, has made some radical and (mostly) welcome recommendations.

If approved, the proposals will represent the most significant and comprehensive changes to the Wills Act since it was introduced in 1837.

Among the main recommendations are:

• The age to make a Will lowered from 18 to 16
• The Court to have power to ‘dispense’ with formality requirements on execution
• The Court to have more power to rectify a Will because of an error in drafting
• Lowering the threshold test for undue influence
• Provision for electronic Wills with a system designed to ensure security

We are several years away from any legislation being passed, but TenMinuteWill will be among the first to provide for the final recommendation if implemented.

Inheritance Tax Changes

In her budget of 30th October 2024, the Chancellor Rachel Reeves brought forward long-anticipated updates to taxes and business reliefs, including:

1. Freezing the Nil-Rate Band (NRB) at £325,000 until April 2030
2. Bringing unused pension funds into the IHT net from April 2027
3. Reducing AIM relief from 100% to an effective IHT rate of 20% from April 2026

The chancellor’s Spring Statement of 26 March 2025 gave no update on these reforms.

Almost 2/3 have no Will

According to a recent study, less than 4 in 10 people in the UK have a Will. Last year the Treasury - in effect the Taxman - ended up taking over £50m from people who died ‘intestate’ - without a Will. Making a Will has never been more important.

The Laws of Intestacy (the rules applied if you die without a Will - available here) rarely mean that your Estate goes to whom you wanted it to, and what’s more the process takes a lot more time - and costs more - than if you had made a Will. All this at a time of great distress for your relatives and loved ones.

People put off making a Will for a number of reasons - often cost and time. That is why TenMinuteWill exists: we provide a service that allows people to make a Will quickly, easily and affordably in their own time.

More cohabitating couples

There are fewer marriages, and more families choosing to cohabit, according to recent data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The ‘Families and households in the UK: 2024’ report provides estimates of families and household types, including people living alone in the UK in 2024.

The numbers show a rise in the numbers of cohabitating families across the UK. A small reduction in number of married or civil-partnered couples to 65.1% of families today, is offset by an increase in the number of cohabiting couple families: 17.7%, up from 16.4% 10 years ago.

Without a Will, co-habiting partners have no right of inheritance - see here for more details.

Criminals rob intestate estates

The hit BBC podcast Grave Robbers, part of the Shadow World series, has brought to public attention a little known fraud where criminals have been using the Bona Vacantia list to identify the estates of people who have died intestate, producing fraudulent wills and submitting them to be awarded grant of probate.

Once the criminals have the grant, they are then stripping the estate of its assets, including any monies in the bank, and speedily selling the property, often for much less than market value so as not to arouse suspicion or incur tax liabilities.

This once again highlights the importance of making a Will.

Brussels IV

On August 17th 2015 a new European regulation came into force. The new regulation is technically called Regulation 650/2012 but is more commonly known as ‘Brussels IV’.

All new Wills made at TenMinuteWill allow you to take advantage of this new regulation, which has not been affected by Brexit.

The regulation allows you to now override the ‘forced heirship’ succession laws in an EU country in which you hold assets and instead have the succession laws of the country of your nationality apply.

More information can be found here.

New Intestacy Laws

On October 1st 2014 the Inheritance and Trustees’ Powers Act 2014 came into effect.

Changes have been made to the Intestacy Laws, the definition of ‘chattels’ in a Will, and the definition of ‘children’ for the purposes of the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.

Our website and products have been amended to incorporate all of these changes.

Amy Winehouse died intestate

Recent reports based on filings made in probate court indicate that Amy Winehouse (who tragically died aged just 27 in July 2011) died ‘intestate’ - without making a Will.

The ‘Laws of Intestacy’ therefore take effect and her parents will (eventually) inherit her entire estate of approximately £3 million after tax.

Amy Winehouse is alleged to have still had a close relationship with her ex-husband Blake Fielder-Civil. Furthermore, she was said to be close to her older brother Alex.

Whether or not Amy Winehouse intended for either of them - or anyone else - to receive something from her estate nobody will ever know for sure. By not making a Will, she lost out on the opportunity to leave anyone anything.

Amy Winehouse provides yet another example of why it is so important to make a Will.