The New Wills Act: What Could Change

The law governing wills is nearly 200 years old

The law that currently governs how you make a will in England and Wales dates from 1837. It was drafted in the reign of William IV, before the telephone, before the typewriter, and long before anyone imagined a world of digital documents and electronic signatures.

Remarkably, the core of that law has survived almost unchanged. The rules on signing, witnessing, and revoking a will that apply today are essentially the same rules that applied when Queen Victoria came to the throne.

In May 2025, the Law Commission published its final report — Modernising Wills Law (Law Com No 419) — together with a draft Bill that would, if enacted, replace the Wills Act 1837 entirely. The draft Bill has not yet been introduced to Parliament, and there is no guarantee it will be enacted in its current form. But it represents the most significant proposed reform of wills law in almost two centuries.

Why is reform being proposed?

The Law Commission began its review in 2016 as part of its Twelfth Programme of Law Reform. The project was supported by the Ministry of Justice and asked a simple question: can the law be reformed to encourage and facilitate will-making in the 21st century?

The answer, after years of research and consultation, was yes — and in several important ways.

The current law has three broad problems:

1. It does not accommodate technology. There is no provision for electronic wills, electronic signatures, or remote witnessing. The temporary rules introduced during COVID-19 (allowing video-witnessed wills) have expired, and there is no permanent replacement.

2. Some rules are outdated or unclear. The test for whether someone has the mental capacity to make a will still comes from a case decided in 1870 (Banks v Goodfellow). The law on testamentary undue influence is underdeveloped. The rules on what happens when you get married or divorced are surprising to many people.

3. The law is scattered across multiple statutes. Provisions about wills appear in the Wills Act 1837, the Wills Act 1968, the Administration of Justice Act 1982, the Law of Property Act 1925, the Wills (Soldiers and Sailors) Act 1918, and several other places. The draft Bill consolidates all of these into a single, modern statute.

The key proposed changes

Electronic wills would become legally valid

The draft Bill expressly provides for wills in electronic form. An electronic will would need to meet the same core requirements as a paper will — it must be in writing, signed, and witnessed — but would also need to meet an additional requirement: the use of a reliable system.

That system would need to link each signature to the person who made it, identify the will so it can be distinguished from copies, and protect it against unauthorised alteration or destruction.

For electronic wills, "signature" would mean an electronic signature, and "presence" would include presence by means of video call. This means that a will could be signed electronically and witnessed remotely — a permanent version of what was temporarily allowed during the pandemic.

The Secretary of State would have power to make regulations specifying which systems qualify as "reliable" for these purposes.

Marriage would no longer revoke your will

Under current law, getting married automatically revokes any will you have already made. Many people do not know this, and it catches them out — particularly those who made a will before remarrying later in life.

The draft Bill would abolish this rule. If you make a will and later get married, your will would remain valid. This would be a significant change, removing a common trap.

The age for making a will would drop from 18 to 16

Currently, you must be 18 to make a valid will (with narrow exceptions for members of the armed forces). The draft Bill would lower this to 16, provided the person has the mental capacity to do so. Children under 16 could also be authorised by the Family Court to make a will, if the court is satisfied they are competent.

Courts would gain new power to validate informal wills

Under the current law, if a will does not comply with the strict formality requirements — for example, if it was only signed by one witness instead of two — the will is invalid. There is no way to fix this, no matter how clear the person's intentions were.

The draft Bill introduces a dispensing power. The High Court would be able to deem the formality requirements to have been met, if it is satisfied that a document (including an electronic record, such as a video) demonstrated the testamentary intentions of the deceased at the time it was made and continued to do so at the time of their death.

This would act as a safety net, not a shortcut. Proper execution would still be essential. But it would mean that genuine wills need not fail on technicalities.

Testamentary undue influence would get a statutory framework

Currently, it is extremely difficult to prove that someone was pressured into making or changing their will. Unlike undue influence in contract law, there is no presumption that can shift the burden of proof. The person challenging the will must prove coercion, and the person who allegedly exerted the pressure is often the primary carer or family member — making evidence hard to obtain.

The draft Bill proposes a statutory framework. In a contested probate case, if a court finds reasonable grounds to suspect undue influence, it could presume that undue influence was exerted — unless the other side proves otherwise. The court would consider the conduct of the person alleged to have exerted influence, their relationship with the testator, and the wider circumstances.

Cohabitants would be protected as witnesses

Under the current law, if a beneficiary or their spouse or civil partner witnesses a will, that beneficiary's gift is void. The draft Bill would extend this rule to cohabitants — two people living together as if they were married or civil partners. It would also extend the rule to anyone who signs the will on the testator's behalf.

The capacity test would be modernised

The draft Bill would adopt the test of capacity from the Mental Capacity Act 2005, replacing the Victorian-era test from Banks v Goodfellow. This would bring will-making into line with every other area of law where a person's capacity to make decisions is assessed. Importantly, the Mental Capacity Act includes a statutory presumption that a person has capacity — so the starting point is that someone can make a will, not that they must prove they can.

What does this mean for you?

The draft Bill has not yet been introduced to Parliament, and there is no timetable for when — or whether — it will be enacted. It must be introduced, debated, potentially amended, and passed before any of these changes take effect. If it does become law, the main provisions would come into force two months after it is passed.

In the meantime, the current rules apply in full. Your will must be signed on paper, in the physical presence of two adult witnesses, using a pen.

But the direction of travel is clear. The Law Commission's recommendations point towards:

• Digital-first will creation, with electronic wills becoming legally valid
• Greater protection against pressure and undue influence
• Simpler, more modern rules that are easier for ordinary people to understand
• A safety net for wills that fail on technicalities but clearly reflect the testator's wishes

What should you do now?

If you do not have a will, do not wait for the law to change. The best time to make a will is now, under the current rules. A properly executed will today will remain valid under the new Act.

If you already have a will, it will continue to be valid. But it is worth reviewing it — particularly if you have married since making it, as the current law (which revokes your will on marriage) will still apply to marriages that took place before the new Act comes into force.

GetWill is built for the future of will-making. Our online process, solicitor review, and digital document management are designed to make will-writing as simple and accessible as the law allows — today and when the law changes.