How to Become a Will Writer in the UK

Will writing is not a reserved legal activity in England and Wales. There is no compulsory qualification, no regulator and no register you are obliged to join. You could take instructions next week.

That is the legal position. Here is the practical one.

Step 1 — Understand what you are actually selling#

Will writers do not sell documents. They sell a decision made properly: who inherits, who decides if capacity goes, what happens to the house, and what happens to the child who cannot be trusted with money.

The document is the artefact. The advice is the product. Which is why the absence of a qualification requirement is a reason to train rather than a reason not to — a badly drafted will does not reveal itself until the one person who could have corrected it has died.

Step 2 — Train#

You need working knowledge of:

• Wills, including mirror wills and testamentary trusts
• Lasting Powers of Attorney, both types
• Trusts — property protection, life interest, discretionary
• Testamentary capacity and undue influence
• Execution and attestation — the formalities that invalidate a will
• Intestacy rules, so you can explain what happens without a will
• Inheritance tax at a level that lets you spot when to refer on

Project Will's training is free and UKRLP-registered (UKPRN 10101187) — the same ground other UK providers charge £600 to £1,000 for. How the training works.

Step 3 — Get the business basics in place#

Step 4 — Write your first wills for nothing#

Family, friends, their parents. Four real fact finds will teach you more than any amount of reading, and you will discover that the hard part is not the drafting — it is getting a straight answer out of someone about which of their children they trust.

Do not buy software yet. You do not need a £150 subscription to write four wills for free.

Step 5 — Work out what to charge#

The commonest mistake is charging too little out of nervousness, then resenting the work. Research local rates — solicitors, other will writers, the national services — and price against the value of the advice rather than the hours.

Step 6 — Get in front of people#

This is the part that actually determines whether you are still doing this in two years. See marketing ideas for estate planners and starting a will writing business.

Step 7 — Then buy the software#

When people are paying you, £150 a month is a rounding error against a single full estate planning package. Before that it is an outgoing against no income.

The honest bit about the first year#

Most people who leave this profession do not leave because they could not do the work. They leave because they were alone in a spare room with no clients and nobody to ask, and the confidence went before the money did.

That is the argument for joining something rather than starting something — a community, free training, somebody who answers the phone, and overflow drafting for the week you take on too much.

Related#

Do you need qualifications to write wills? · How much do will writers earn? · Starting out · Training