Digital Wills – time to fast track changes to make them legal, says new campaign

Calls to declare digital or electronic Wills legally valid, enabling people to create and keep their wills up to date much more easily, are intensifying.

A group of cross-party MPs and industry leaders is urging the government – which has still not responded to the Law Commission’s recommendations for modernising Wills – to move more quickly.

The open letter is part of a new campaign called My Last Wish launched by SafeKeep, a digital life vault service, stressing the importance of making a Will.

It reads: “More than 23 million adults in the United Kingdom have no will. When they die, their wishes die with them, and their families inherit confusion and conflict. Last year, £67 million from unclaimed estates passed to the UK government, money that might have reached loved ones had a will been in place.

“The law governing this national tragedy is the Wills Act 1837. Passed before the telephone was invented, it demands a wet-ink signature witnessed in person by two people simultaneously present. It disadvantages the elderly, the housebound, and the millions who quite reasonably manage every other aspect of their lives online. This Victorian law makes no sense in 21st century Britain.”

Allowing electronic Wills

The Law Commission says sweeping changes to modernise the law around Wills, untouched since Victorian times, is needed to make it clearer and ensure it is ‘fit for purpose in the modern age’.

Legalising digital Wills is part of this and in its report to the government, the Law Commission points to how the pandemic highlighted the advantages of being able to witness wills remotely.

Measures to enable electronic Wills to be legally recognised is likely to include digital signatures and digital witnessing, for example by video call, with digital safeguards to minimise the risk of fraud, undue influence and Wills being destroyed.

However, although the Law Commission’s report Modernising Wills Law and accompanying draft bill were published and laid before parliament in May 2025, the government has missed the formal one-year deadline to deliver a full response.

What other changes are being considered?

• Getting married or entering into a civil partnership will no longer revoke a Will. This amendment reflects how society is changing with cohabitation now more popular than marriage, as well as considering the rise of predatory marriage. This is where a vulnerable person is coerced into a marriage they don't have the mental capacity to agree to by someone set to financially benefit from inheriting their estate.
• Reviewing how Mental Capacity to make a Will is assessed – streamlining the tests to ascertain that someone knows exactly what they are doing from two to one.
• Wills for children – lowering the age at which a chid is legally allowed to make a Will from 18 to 16 and in some cases, with court authorisation, to 15 or even younger to allow ‘competent’ terminally ill young people, in certain circumstances, to make a Will.
• Making it easier to challenge undue influence. This is where it’s alleged that someone making a Will was coerced by another. This would potentially better protect the true intentions of the Will-maker but there are also concerns the change could lead to a furtherrise in inheritance claims.
• Enabling an invalid but clear Will to stand – the Law Commission says that if someone clearly states what is to happen to their estate when they die, it should be possible to make this happen even if their Will doesn’t fulfil all the formal legal requirements.

Get in touch

As these significant changes to Wills law are considered, our specialist Wills and Mental Capacity Team can advise on what they mean for you and how best to protect your interests.

Wards Solicitors’ Personal Tax, Trusts and Probate team wins high praise in the 2026 edition of the independent Legal 500 guide of outstanding legal professionals for its ‘incredibly sensitive and caring team’.

All our solicitors are highly experienced. Many are members of The Association of Lifetime Lawyers (formerly Solicitors for the Elderly) and the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP). Both organisations require the highest standards from its members with proven qualifications and experience.

We offer a free initial appointment, can meet you in one of our offices or come to your home and always ensure the strict protocol for Will signings is followed to the letter.

• If you want to make or update your Will, please contact our Wills and Mental Capacity Team.