Welcome to Isis Wills. We provide will creation services in the UK and are backed up by both the International Law Association and Commonwealth Lawyers Association. Our services include free advice on How to write a Will as well as what to do when difficult decisions have to be made. Our funeral care services are provided by our partners at Co-operative Funeralcare.
Any person over the age of majority and of sound mind (having appropriate mental capacity) can draft his or her own will with or without the aid of an attorney. Additional requirements may vary, depending on the jurisdiction, but generally include the following requirements:
- The testator must clearly identify himself or herself as the maker of the will, and that a will is being made; this is commonly called "publication" of the will, and is typically satisfied by the words "last will and testament" on the face of the document.
- The testator must declare that he or she revokes all previous wills and codicils. Otherwise, a subsequent will revokes earlier wills and codicils only to the extent to which they are inconsistent. However, if a subsequent will is completely inconsistent with an earlier one, the earlier will is considered completely revoked by implication.
- The testator must demonstrate that he or she has the capacity to dispose of his or her property ("sound mind"), and does so freely and willingly.
- The testator must sign and date the will, usually in the presence of at least two disinterested witnesses (persons who are not beneficiaries). There may be extra witnesses, these are called "supernumerary" witnesses, if there is a question as to an interested-party conflict. Some jurisdictions, notably Pennsylvania, have long abolished any requirement for witnesses. In the United States, Louisiana requires both attestation by two witnesses as well as notarization by a notary public. "Holographic" or handwritten wills generally require no witnesses to be valid.
- If witnesses are designated to receive property under the will they are witnesses, this has the effect, in many jurisdictions, of either (i) disallowing them to receive under the will, or (ii) invalidating their status as a witness. In a growing number of states in the United States, however, an interested party is only an improper witness as to the clauses that benefit him or her (for instance, in Illinois).
- The testator's signature must be placed at the end of the will. If this is not observed, any text following the signature will be ignored, or the entire will may be invalidated if what comes after the signature is so material that ignoring it would defeat the testator's intentions.
- One or more beneficiaries (devisees, legatees) must generally be clearly stated in the text, but some jurisdictions allow a valid will that merely revokes a previous will, revokes a disposition in a previous will, or names an executor.
