Making a Will Without a Solicitor: Risks

Execution requirements

Formal requirements vary by jurisdiction and commonly include signature by the testator in the presence of witnesses who then sign in their presence.

The most common and most damaging error concerns witnesses. In many systems a beneficiary or their spouse who witnesses the will loses their inheritance, while the will itself remains valid.

Families have lost substantial legacies to this single mistake, and it is entirely avoidable by using independent witnesses.

Other frequent errors include failing to date the will, signing in the wrong place, and witnesses not being present simultaneously where that is required.

Ambiguity

Homemade wills frequently use imprecise language: my house where more than one property exists, my savings without specifying accounts, or my children where step-children may or may not be intended.

Ambiguity is resolved after death by people who cannot ask what was meant, sometimes through litigation that consumes a substantial part of the estate.

What homemade wills routinely omit

Residue. A will disposing of specific items but not stating who receives everything else leaves a partial intestacy governed by statutory rules.

Substitute beneficiaries where someone dies first, which is common in wills made decades before death.

Executor appointment, and a substitute executor.

Guardians for minor children, which is one of the most important functions a will performs.

Provision for the possibility of the estate's composition changing, since a gift of a specific item fails if that item no longer exists.

Situations needing professional drafting

Business interests, agricultural property, or assets in more than one country, where competing legal systems can produce unintended results.

Second marriages and blended families, where balancing provision for a spouse and children from a previous relationship requires structure.

Beneficiaries who are minors, disabled, or receiving means-tested support, where an outright gift can cause harm.

Anticipated disputes, or excluding someone who might expect to inherit, where the reasoning should be documented carefully.

Any estate large enough for tax planning to matter.

Practical points

Store the original safely and tell the executor where it is. A will nobody can find achieves nothing, and copies are frequently insufficient.

Review after marriage, divorce, births, deaths and property changes. In several jurisdictions marriage revokes an existing will automatically, which surprises people.

Do not amend a signed will by writing on it, which can invalidate it. Use a formal codicil or make a new will.