5 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Making a Will

Creating a Will is one of the most responsible things you can do for your loved ones. Yet here's a sobering fact: over 60% of UK adults don't have a valid Will in place. And of those who do? Many contain errors or oversights that cause serious problems down the line.

When something goes wrong with a Will, it's not just a minor inconvenience. Your family might face months (or even years) of legal hassle, unexpected tax bills, and disputes at a time when they're already grieving. In the worst cases, your estate might not go to the people you intended at all. Or a chunk of it could be lost to taxes that could easily have been avoided.

The good news? Most Will-making mistakes are completely preventable if you know what to look out for. In this guide, we'll walk through the five most common slip-ups people make, why they matter, and most importantly, how you can avoid them to protect what you're leaving behind.

Here's one of the biggest mistakes people make: they write a Will and then forget about it. They treat it as a "set it and forget it" document. Life moves on, things change, but the Will stays exactly the same. Many people write one in their thirties or forties and never look at it again, not realising that what happened next might have made parts of it invalid or just plain wrong for their current situation.

Why This Matters:

UK law treats certain life events as automatic game-changers for your Will. Marriage, for instance, automatically revokes any previous Will you made (unless you specifically wrote that Will in contemplation of that particular marriage). So if you wrote a Will at 25 and got married at 30, that old Will is automatically void. Even if you had no idea.

Divorce works differently. It doesn't cancel your entire Will, but it does remove your ex-spouse as both a beneficiary and executor. The Will treats them as if they'd died before you. But here's the catch: it doesn't automatically redirect those gifts to anyone else. This can leave awkward gaps in how your estate gets divided up.

Real-World Example:

Sarah wrote a Will at 28, leaving everything to her sister Emma. At 32, she married David. She meant to update her Will but never quite got round to it. When Sarah died unexpectedly at 45, her family discovered that her marriage to David had automatically cancelled her old Will. Without a valid Will, Sarah died "intestate," and the intestacy rules kicked in. David inherited everything. Emma got nothing, despite what Sarah had originally wanted.

Life Events That Should Trigger a Will Review:

• Marriage or civil partnership: Automatically revokes your Will
• Divorce or dissolution: Removes your ex as beneficiary and executor
• Birth or adoption of children: You've got new people to think about
• Death of a beneficiary or executor: The people you named are no longer available
• Significant property purchase or sale: Changes what you're leaving and how much it's worth
• Starting a business: Business assets need special handling
• Moving abroad or buying overseas property: Different legal jurisdictions come into play
• Grandchildren being born: You might want to include them
• Changes in relationships: Family rifts or new important people in your life

How to Avoid This Mistake:

Set yourself a reminder to review your Will every three to five years, even if nothing major has happened. After any big life event, book an appointment with your solicitor within three months to talk it through. Keep a list of your beneficiaries and executors with your Will, and check once a year that they're still the right choices.

Sometimes you can make small adjustments with something called a codicil (basically a formal amendment). Other times you'll need to write a whole new Will. Your solicitor can help you work out which route makes sense.

Your executor (you can actually appoint up to four) has to sort out your estate after you die. They gather your assets, pay off debts and taxes, and distribute what's left to your beneficiaries according to your wishes. Despite how important this job is, loads of people choose executors without really thinking through whether they're up to the task.

Why This Matters:

Being an executor is a big job. For complex estates, it can take 6-12 months or longer. You need to be organised, understand financial stuff, stay emotionally strong during a difficult time, and have plenty of time to dedicate to it. Choose someone who can't handle it or doesn't want to, and you get:

• Delays in sorting everything out (leaving beneficiaries waiting ages for their inheritance)
• Mistakes on tax forms (potentially costing thousands)
• Poor decisions about estate investments
• Family rows over perceived favouritism or dodgy communication
• The executor getting so overwhelmed they step down, causing even more delays

Real-World Example:

Robert appointed his elderly brother Thomas as executor, thinking it was a sign of trust and respect. When Robert died, Thomas was 78 and struggling with his own health. Despite meaning well, Thomas found the whole thing overwhelming. He didn't understand online banking, couldn't get his head round the Probate Registry's digital systems, and was completely out of his depth with the complex tax calculations needed for Robert's property portfolio.

After eight months of struggling, Thomas had to hire a solicitor to take over, which cost a fortune and delayed everything for the beneficiaries. If Robert had appointed his financially savvy daughter alongside Thomas, or gone with a professional executor, things would've been so much smoother.

Common Executor Selection Mistakes:

• Choosing based on family pecking order rather than who can actually do the job: Just because someone's your eldest child or your spouse doesn't automatically make them the best choice
• Appointing someone who's elderly or nearly retired: They might not have the energy or be comfortable with modern financial systems
• Picking someone who lives abroad: International executors struggle to access UK institutions
• Choosing someone who's rubbish with money: They'll find the numbers and legal bits tough going
• Not thinking about conflicts of interest: An executor who's also getting a big chunk of the estate might struggle to manage competing interests fairly
• Forgetting to name backup executors: If your first choice can't or won't do it, you want a Plan B
• Not asking them first: Your chosen executor might not actually want the responsibility

How to Avoid This Mistake:

Before you name someone as executor, have an honest chat with them. Explain what's involved and ask if they're willing and able. Consider appointing two executors who can share the load and keep each other in check. Often a family member (who knows you and your family well) paired with a professional (like a solicitor or accountant who knows the technical stuff) works brilliantly.

Look for executors who are: - Organised and reliable: They'll need to track down assets, keep records, and meet deadlines - Good with money: Understanding tax, investments, and legal documents is crucial - Emotionally resilient: They've got to make sensible decisions during a rough time - Diplomatic: They might need to navigate family dynamics and potential arguments - Younger than you: They should reasonably be around longer than you - UK-based: Or at least able to pop over to the UK regularly while sorting things out

Consider professional executors (solicitors or trust companies) if your estate is complicated, if you think there might be family fights, or if you simply don't have suitable people to ask. Yes, professional executors charge fees, but they bring expertise and impartiality that often saves the estate money in the long run.

Inheritance Tax (IHT) is charged at 40% on your estate above certain thresholds. Loads of people either don't realise their estate will get hit with IHT or fail to use perfectly legitimate planning tricks that could massively reduce the tax bill. With UK house prices having shot up over the years, more estates than ever are crossing the IHT threshold. It's no longer just something the super-wealthy need to worry about.

Why This Matters:

As of 2024/25, everyone gets a nil-rate band of £325,000 and potentially a residence nil-rate band of £175,000 if you're leaving your main home to direct descendants (kids, grandkids, that sort of thing). This means you could potentially pass on up to £500,000 tax-free. Married couples or civil partners can combine their allowances, taking it up to £1 million.

But without proper planning, you can waste these allowances. IHT gets paid from your estate before anyone gets their inheritance, meaning your loved ones receive way less than you intended. For a £750,000 estate with no planning, the IHT bill could be £100,000. That's a hundred grand that could've stayed with your family.

Real-World Example:

Margaret owned a house worth £550,000 and had £150,000 in savings. Total estate: £700,000. She left everything to her two children. She'd heard about Inheritance Tax but thought she was "not rich enough" for it to matter.

When Margaret died, her estate was £200,000 over the nil-rate band. She didn't qualify for the residence nil-rate band because of how she'd structured her Will. The IHT bill came to £80,000 (40% of £200,000). Her children got £620,000 instead of the full £700,000. That's a huge chunk lost to tax that could've been avoided with a bit of planning.

Common IHT Planning Mistakes:

• Not understanding the residence nil-rate band: That extra £175,000 allowance only kicks in when you leave your main home to children, grandchildren, or other direct descendants. Not siblings, friends, or charities
• Not using both partners' allowances properly: Married couples and civil partners can transfer unused allowances to whoever survives, but you need to claim it correctly
• Ignoring lifetime gifts: You can give away up to £3,000 a year tax-free, plus other allowances. Over time, this can remove serious value from your taxable estate
• Overlooking business and agricultural relief: If you own a business or farm, you might get significant tax breaks
• Forgetting about pension beneficiaries: Pensions usually sit outside your estate for IHT purposes, so think carefully about where you direct them
• Not considering charitable legacies: Leave 10% or more of your net estate to charity and the IHT rate drops from 40% to 36%
• Holding too much in property: Property values have grown loads, but property is hard to sell quickly and gets fully taxed

UK Inheritance Tax Allowances (2024/25):

• Nil-rate band: £325,000 per person (frozen until 2028)
• Residence nil-rate band: £175,000 per person (when your main home goes to direct descendants)
• Spouse exemption: Unlimited. You can leave everything to your spouse or civil partner completely tax-free
• Charity exemption: Gifts to registered charities are completely exempt
• Annual gift exemption: £3,000 per year (you can carry forward one unused year)
• Small gifts exemption: £250 per person per year to as many people as you like
• Wedding gifts: £5,000 to a child, £2,500 to a grandchild, £1,000 to anyone else

How to Avoid This Mistake:

Start by getting a realistic picture of what your estate's actually worth. Include your home, savings, investments, life insurance policies, business interests, and personal belongings. Don't forget to deduct mortgages and other debts.

If your estate's over the nil-rate band (or combined allowances for couples), think about:

• Leaving your home to direct descendants to claim the residence nil-rate band
• Making lifetime gifts using your annual exemptions and potentially larger gifts that become tax-free after seven years
• Setting up trusts for more complex arrangements (though these have their own tax rules)
• Life insurance written in trust to provide money to pay IHT bills without increasing your taxable estate
• Balancing estates between spouses so both partners can use their full allowances
• Charitable legacies for both the social good and the tax benefits

Inheritance Tax planning is complex and the rules change regularly. What works for one family won't necessarily work for another. Talk to a solicitor who specialises in estate planning to work out a strategy that fits your circumstances. The cost of professional advice is nearly always far less than the tax you'll save.

In our increasingly digital world, most of us have built up significant online assets and accounts. Yet hardly any Wills mention them. From social media and email to cryptocurrency and online businesses, these digital assets can be worth real money or have huge sentimental value. Without proper planning, they might be lost forever or locked away where your loved ones can never reach them.

Why This Matters:

Digital assets throw up challenges that physical stuff doesn't. Most online services have terms and conditions that ban you from sharing passwords or accessing someone else's account, even after they've died. Some automatically delete accounts after periods of inactivity. Others have specific legacy procedures you've got to follow. Without clear instructions in your Will and access information stored safely, your executors might find it impossible to get into these accounts.

The financial side can be massive. Cryptocurrency holdings, online investment accounts, PayPal balances, royalties from digital content, and online businesses can represent serious money. But without login details and clear authority to act, your executors might not be able to recover any of it.

Beyond the money, there's the sentimental stuff. Family photos stored in the cloud, email conversations, social media memories, and digital documents can be irreplaceable to your loved ones. But only if they can actually access them.

Real-World Example:

James was a freelance photographer who'd stored 20 years of family photos on Google Photos. He had a successful Instagram account with 50,000 followers that earned him about £1,000 a month through sponsorships. He also held £15,000 in Bitcoin. When James died suddenly in an accident, his family couldn't get into any of it.

Google's inactivity policy meant his photo storage would be deleted after 18 months of no activity. Instagram wouldn't give his family access without a court order, which took eight months and cost £3,000 in legal fees. The Bitcoin was on an exchange, and without James's password and two-factor authentication details, it's still sitting there inaccessible. Effectively a £15,000 loss to his estate.

If James had included digital assets in his Will and stored the access information with his solicitor, his family could've saved the photos, potentially continued or sold the Instagram account, and recovered the cryptocurrency.

Types of Digital Assets to Consider:

Financial Digital Assets: - Cryptocurrency (Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc.) and exchange accounts - PayPal, Revolut, and other online payment balances - Online investment accounts and trading platforms - Royalties from e-books, music, stock photography, or other digital content - Online businesses and e-commerce stores - Domain names that are worth money - Intellectual property stored digitally

Personal Digital Assets: - Social media accounts (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, LinkedIn) - Email accounts with important correspondence - Cloud storage (Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud, OneDrive) with photos and documents - Photo and video storage services - Blogs and personal websites - Gaming accounts with purchased content or actual monetary value - Reward points and air miles - Subscription services you've prepaid

How to Avoid This Mistake:

First, make a comprehensive list of your digital assets. For each one, note down: - The platform or service name - The username or account identifier - Whether it's worth money, has sentimental value, or both - What you want done with it (memorialise it, delete it, transfer it, etc.)

In your Will, include a specific clause about digital assets. Give your executors authority to access, manage, close, or transfer your digital accounts. Be specific about what you want. Do you want your social media memorialised or deleted? Should your blog stay up as an archive or be taken down?

Create a secure document listing your digital assets with access information (usernames and where to find passwords). Do NOT put actual passwords in your Will. Wills become public documents after probate. Instead:

• Store passwords in a secure password manager with a master password shared only with your executor
• Leave instructions with your solicitor in a sealed, confidential letter
• Use a digital legacy service that securely shares access information after verifying you've died

Review and update your digital asset list every year. Our digital lives change fast. New accounts get created, old ones get closed, passwords change. Don't let your digital legacy plan get out of date.

Lastly, check out the legacy or memorialisation policies of the big platforms. Facebook, Google, Apple, and others have specific procedures for handling deceased users' accounts. Understanding these beforehand helps your executors navigate things more smoothly.

With online Will-writing services and DIY Will kits all over the place, loads of people try to save money by creating their Will without professional legal advice. While these services might work for very simple estates, they can be a false economy for many people. The mistakes made in DIY Wills often only show up after you've died, when it's too late to fix them.

Why This Matters:

A Will is a legal document that has to comply with strict formal requirements under the Wills Act 1837 and later legislation. If you don't get these requirements exactly right, your Will might be partially or completely invalid. Even if you tick all the formal boxes, unclear wording, legal misunderstandings, or missing tax-saving opportunities can lead to outcomes completely different from what you wanted.

The fallout from an invalid or poorly written Will can include: - Your estate being divided up according to intestacy rules rather than your wishes - Massive and avoidable Inheritance Tax bills - Lengthy and expensive court battles as beneficiaries challenge the Will - The wrong people getting your assets - Charities or family members getting nothing despite your intentions - Executors unable to do their job because of unclear or contradictory instructions

Real-World Example:

Peter used an online Will template to save the cost of a solicitor. He wanted to leave his house to his son Michael and his savings to his daughter Claire "in equal shares." Peter filled in the template, got his neighbours to witness it, and felt pleased he'd sorted everything.

When Peter died, several problems cropped up.

First, the witnesses were husband and wife. Under the Wills Act 1837, if a witness or their spouse is a beneficiary, they lose their inheritance. Peter's neighbours were friends with Michael and had been named as executors. They didn't realise they couldn't serve in that role now.

Second, Peter's wording "in equal shares" at the end of the sentence created confusion. Did he mean the house and savings should all be split equally between Michael and Claire, or that only the savings should be split equally? The Will wasn't clear.

Third, Peter owned his house as joint tenants with his second wife Joan (not Michael's mother). Joint tenant property automatically goes to the surviving owner outside the Will. So Peter couldn't actually leave it to Michael in his Will. Peter hadn't understood this.

The result? Claire and Michael spent 18 months and over £20,000 in legal fees trying to sort out the mess. Joan kept the house by operation of law, and Michael felt completely betrayed, believing his dad had promised him the house. The family relationships were permanently damaged. All because Peter tried to save a few hundred quid on proper legal advice.

Common DIY Will Mistakes:

Formal Execution Errors: - Not having two witnesses present at the same time - Witnesses who are beneficiaries or married to beneficiaries (which cancels their gifts) - Not signing every page in the right places - Witnesses not actually seeing you sign, or the other way round - Using witnesses under 18 - Making changes after you've signed it without proper procedures

Drafting Errors: - Vague language that's open to interpretation - Using everyday terms that don't have the legal effect you think they do - Contradictory bits that conflict with each other - Not including a residuary clause (leading to partial intestacy) - Not accounting for what happens if beneficiaries die before you - Mixing up joint tenancies with tenancies in common - Making conditional gifts that can't be enforced or are too uncertain

Legal Misunderstandings: - Not realising pension death benefits and life insurance in trust don't pass under your Will - Trying to leave property you don't own or that passes automatically - Not understanding how business assets should be handled - Failing to set up trusts properly for vulnerable beneficiaries - Missing the interaction with Inheritance Tax rules - Ignoring the rights of spouses and financial dependents who can challenge your Will

How to Avoid This Mistake:

Be honest about how complicated your situation is. DIY Wills might be fine if: - Your estate is small and straightforward - You're leaving everything to your spouse or civil partner - You've got no business interests, overseas property, or complicated assets - You're not worried about Inheritance Tax - Your family situation is simple with no previous marriages or stepchildren - You're confident you understand the legal terminology

For most people, professional advice is worth every penny. A solicitor who specialises in Wills and estate planning can: - Make sure your Will is validly executed and legally sound - Use precise legal language that clearly says what you mean - Spot tax planning opportunities you might've missed - Alert you to potential problems or challenges - Explain how your assets actually pass (through your Will, joint ownership, trust, etc.) - Create trusts for vulnerable beneficiaries if needed - Ensure your Will works alongside your other estate planning (LPAs, life insurance, etc.)

Having a solicitor draft your Will typically costs £150 to £500 for straightforward ones, and £500 to £1,500 or more for complex estates with tax planning and trusts. That's a small price for peace of mind that your Will is legally sound and will actually do what you want.

If money's genuinely tight, many solicitors offer free Will-writing at certain times of year (like Free Wills Month), or you might be able to get free legal advice through a charity if you're over 55.

Remember: your Will is not the place to cut corners. The money you save now could cost your loved ones tens of thousands later, along with months of stress and potential family conflict at an already horrible time.

While some estates genuinely are simple, loads of people underestimate how complicated their situation actually is. It's worth getting professional legal advice if any of these apply to you:

Family Complexity: - You've been married or in a civil partnership more than once - You have stepchildren or children from different relationships - You want to exclude or limit what certain family members get - You have financially dependent family members with special needs - Your family has a history of arguments or challenging relationships - You're not married to your partner but want to provide for them

Asset Complexity: - Your estate's worth more than the nil-rate band (currently £325,000, or £500,000 if the residence nil-rate band applies) - You own business assets or shares in a company - You own property overseas - You have significant digital assets or intellectual property - You own property with someone as tenants in common - You have valuable collections (art, antiques, jewellery) - Your assets include agricultural or business property that might qualify for IHT reliefs

Specific Wishes: - You want to create trusts for beneficiaries - You want to leave assets to charity - You have specific funeral wishes or requirements - You want to make conditional gifts - You're concerned about beneficiaries' ability to handle their inheritances sensibly - You want to protect assets from potential future creditors or divorce

Potential Complications: - You think your Will might be challenged - You want to disinherit someone who'd expect to benefit - You have multiple properties or complex assets - You're worried about Inheritance Tax planning - Your circumstances have changed loads since your last Will - You have non-UK domicile status or complicated residency issues

A good estate planning solicitor won't just draft your Will. They'll review your whole financial situation, discuss your goals and concerns, spot potential problems you haven't even thought of, and create a comprehensive plan that includes your Will, Lasting Powers of Attorney, and any necessary tax planning strategies.

Creating a Will is one of the most caring and responsible things you can do for your loved ones. By avoiding these five common mistakes (keeping your Will updated, choosing capable executors, planning for Inheritance Tax, including digital assets, and getting professional legal guidance), you can make sure your wishes are carried out exactly as you intend.

Remember that your Will isn't a one-and-done thing. It's an ongoing responsibility. Life changes, laws change, and your Will should change with them. Schedule regular reviews, stay informed about changes to estate planning law, and don't hesitate to get professional advice when your circumstances shift.

The cost and effort of getting your Will right now is nothing compared to the problems, expense, and family conflict that can arise from a poorly planned estate. Your Will is your final gift to your loved ones. Make sure it's one that provides security, clarity, and peace of mind rather than confusion, arguments, and unnecessary tax bills.

Your Next Steps:

If you haven't made a Will yet, or if your current one has any of the mistakes we've outlined above, now's the time to sort it. At Keystone Estate Planning, our experienced legal team specialises in helping UK clients create comprehensive, legally sound Wills tailored to their unique circumstances.

We take the time to understand your family, your assets, and your wishes. Then we create a clear, precise legal document that protects your legacy and provides for your loved ones exactly as you intend. We'll guide you through the whole process, explaining your options, spotting planning opportunities, and making sure your Will works alongside your broader estate plan.

Don't leave your loved ones' future to chance. Contact Keystone Estate Planning today for a comprehensive Will consultation. Your legacy deserves nothing less than professional expertise and careful planning.