Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. Like any AI tool, ours can sometimes misread a document, miss a detail or word something in a way you did not intend. That is why the AI never finalises anything on its own: you review every answer, and an independent professional you choose reviews your will before it is finalised.

Check important details such as names, gifts and percentages before you rely on them. Our guide to how we use AI explains the checks built into each step.

It is the same kind of tool: an AI assistant that drafts and explains text for you. The difference is that ours is built for wills and estate documents, runs on our own self-hosted models by default, and your raw documents and personal details are never used to train it.

As with any general AI assistant, you stay responsible for reviewing what it produces before you rely on it.

ChatGPT is a trademark of OpenAI; Claude is a trademark of Anthropic. We are not affiliated with either company.

No. We are not a law firm, and nothing the AI produces is legal advice. Our tools give general information and help you put your own wishes into a draft.

For advice on your situation, you can choose a qualified professional from our professional directory to review your will, or use a lawyer of your own.

You decide what goes into your will, so you are responsible for checking that it reflects your wishes and that the details you give us are accurate. The professional you choose to review your will is responsible for their own review.

We are responsible for providing our service with reasonable care and skill, and nothing in our terms affects your statutory rights. Sections 5 and 10 of our Terms of Service explain how responsibility is shared.

Not by default. Our AI runs on our own self-hosted models. Some tasks offer an external AI provider as an option, and we only use one after you give your explicit consent for that document.

You can say no and still use the platform.

Your raw documents and personal details are never used to train any AI model. To improve our own models we may use de-identified interaction data, with names, addresses and other identifying details removed. External AI providers are not permitted to train on your data.

Our privacy policy explains how we use AI and the choices you have.

Read the whole draft slowly and check that:

• Every name is spelt correctly and matches the person you mean
• Your executors and any guardians are the people you chose
• Gifts and percentages match your wishes and shares add up
• It says what should happen if a beneficiary dies before you
• You follow the signing and witnessing instructions exactly

If anything is unclear, ask the professional reviewing your will before you sign.

A nominee is someone you designate directly with a financial institution (such as a bank, pension provider, or insurer) to receive a specific asset upon your death. A will beneficiary is someone named in your will to receive assets through the probate process.

Importantly, nominee designations registered with institutions typically take priority over instructions in your will, so it is critical to keep both aligned with your estate plan.

No. Recording nominees on TheWILL.ai is for your personal records only. It helps you keep track of your designations across all your assets in one place.

To formally register a nominee, you must contact each financial institution directly and complete their nomination or beneficiary designation form.

Primary nominees are first in line to receive the asset. Contingent (backup) nominees only receive the asset if the primary nominee predeceases you or is otherwise unable to receive.

For example, you might designate your spouse as 100% primary nominee, with your two children as contingent nominees at 50% each.

Yes. Primary nominee percentages must total exactly 100%, and if you add contingent nominees, their percentages must also total 100% separately.

This ensures the full value of the asset is accounted for in your nomination plan.

Five asset types support nominees: financial accounts (bank and investment accounts), retirement accounts (pensions, superannuation), insurance policies (life insurance, endowment), equity compensation (stock options, RSUs), and liabilities (joint loans, mortgages).

These are the asset types where financial institutions typically accept nominee or beneficiary designations.

Under rules being introduced in the UK, most unused funds and lump-sum death benefits from UK registered pension schemes are expected to count towards the estate for inheritance tax. Some benefits stay outside, such as death-in-service payments, and benefits passing to a spouse or civil partner are generally exempt.

Our guide to pensions and inheritance tax sets out when the change applies and what executors need to do. Other countries treat retirement savings in their own ways.

Many people finish their will in a single sitting. Our AI-powered tools guide you through simple questions about your wishes, beneficiaries, and assets.

You can save your progress at any point and return later if you need to gather information or think about your decisions.

Before starting, it helps to have:

• Personal details (full name, address, date of birth)
• Beneficiary information (names and relationships)
• An overview of your assets (property, accounts, valuable items)
• Executor choices (trusted people to carry out your wishes)
• Guardian preferences (if you have minor children)

You don’t need everything upfront. You can save your progress and return later to complete any section.

We offer two types of will:

• Solo Will: For one person, covering your individual wishes and assets
• Mirror Will: For couples, creating matching wills that typically leave everything to each other first, then to chosen beneficiaries

Both types are generated using AI and must be reviewed by a qualified will writer before finalisation.

TheWILL.ai works on any modern device with a web browser:

• Desktop computers (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• Tablets (iPad, Android tablets)
• Smartphones (iPhone, Android)

Apps for iOS and Android are coming soon. Until then, the website works fully on mobile, though a larger screen is best when creating your will.

To create a valid will and reduce the risk of it being contested:

• Use completely independent witnesses (not beneficiaries or their spouses)
• Follow your jurisdiction’s specific signing requirements
• Use clear, unambiguous language when describing beneficiaries and assets
• Update your will after major life events (marriage, divorce, births)
• Have your will professionally reviewed before finalising

Our platform guides you through each step and flags common issues. Professional legal review before finalisation significantly reduces the risk of your will being contested. For more details, see our Common Will Mistakes Guide.

An online will can be legally valid. What matters is what it says and how it is signed and witnessed, not how it was drafted. A qualified professional reviews every will before it is finalised.

In most jurisdictions, signing means a physical signature on a printed will with witnesses present. We provide clear, step-by-step instructions for this process, including options for remote witnessing where legally accepted. For specific signing requirements in your jurisdiction, see our Who Can Draft and Sign a Will guide.

You don’t need a lawyer to create a will through our platform. However, every will must be reviewed by a qualified will writer before it can be finalised. This is a mandatory step. Where your jurisdiction requires a physical will, your will writer can also coordinate printing and the signing ceremony.

We recommend additional legal consultation if you have:

• Complex business structures
• High-value estates
• International assets or estate planning needs
• Special family situations requiring trusts

For detailed information about witness requirements and who can draft a will in your jurisdiction, see our comprehensive guide.

Inheritance tax varies significantly by country and jurisdiction. Key factors include:

• Your country of residence and citizenship
• The total value of your estate
• Who your beneficiaries are (spouses often have exemptions)
• The types of assets in your estate

Some countries have no inheritance tax and others tax the estate or its heirs. For general information on different countries, see our Global Inheritance Tax Guide.

The most common mistakes that can invalidate or lead to contested wills include:

• Using beneficiaries as witnesses (in many jurisdictions the gift to that beneficiary can fail)
• Improper witnessing procedures
• Lack of mental capacity documentation
• Ambiguous language or unclear beneficiary identification
• Not updating after major life changes like marriage or divorce

Our platform helps you avoid these pitfalls, and mandatory legal review before finalisation provides an additional safeguard. See our Common Will Mistakes Guide for country-specific details.

Including property in your will requires consideration of legal requirements that vary by jurisdiction:

• Joint ownership structures (joint tenancy vs tenancy in common)
• Matrimonial home rights and spousal consent requirements
• Property transfer documentation
• Foreign property considerations
• Mortgage and secured debt handling

Our will creation process guides you through property-related questions. For comprehensive guidance across different countries, see our Property Will Requirements Guide.

A will can be challenged after death, for example on the grounds that it was not signed or witnessed properly, that the person making it lacked mental capacity, or that they were pressured into it. Who can bring a challenge, on what grounds and within what time limit depends on the law where the will applies.

Once your signing is recorded, your will’s evidence trail keeps who signed and witnessed it and when, with a short fingerprint of every saved version, and you can download a PDF evidence pack at any time. After a verified death your executors can see and download the signing record. See your will’s evidence trail.

The trail is a record, not a ruling: whether a will stands is decided under local law. If you expect a dispute, speak to a solicitor or other qualified adviser.

Yes. Life changes and your will should too. One-time purchasers can update at a discounted renewal fee (single or couple). Annual Platinum and VIP subscribers get will refreshes included with their plan (Platinum 4/year, VIP unlimited). Free, Silver and Gold subscribers, and monthly subscribers, pay the renewal fee per refresh.

Common reasons to update include:

• Adding or removing beneficiaries
• Changing executors or guardians
• Updating asset distributions
• Reflecting major life events (marriage, divorce, births)

Updates take just minutes since your information is already saved.

We follow legal changes in the jurisdictions we serve. If you opt in to law and regulation updates and a change concerns the jurisdiction and topic of a will you have completed with us, we’ll email you and send you an in-app notice about that will, with a summary of what changed. Other updates reach you as general legal news. A law change does not update your will automatically, so review it with a qualified professional when the rules change.

Annual Platinum and VIP subscribers can use their included will refreshes to apply updates. Free, Silver and Gold subscribers, monthly subscribers and one-time purchasers can update at the discounted renewal fee (single or couple).

Yes. Your progress is automatically saved as you work through each step of the will creation process. You can close your browser and return at any time to continue where you left off.

All your information is stored securely in your account. There is no time limit for completing your will.

Once your will has been generated and reviewed by a qualified will writer, you can download it as a PDF from your dashboard. The PDF includes:

• Your complete will document
• Step-by-step signing and witnessing instructions specific to your jurisdiction

You can download your will as many times as you need. We recommend keeping both a digital and physical signed copy in a secure location.

Your signed will remains legally valid regardless of whether you continue using TheWILL.ai. A will’s validity depends on proper execution (signing and witnessing), not on maintaining an online subscription.

If you cancel your subscription or stop using the platform, you retain access to your free account with estate planning tools. Your will document remains downloadable from your account.

All users get free access to our estate planning tools, including:

• Document vault for storing important files
• Asset tracker to catalogue your estate
• Funeral wishes planning and sharing with family
• Guardian and caretaker management
• Estate planning news from international sources
• Secure cloud storage
• Step-by-step witnessing instructions

Will generation is a separate one-time fee, priced for a single will or for mirror wills (couples) in your currency on our Pricing page. This includes your first AI-assisted draft. Legal review by a qualified will writer is required before finalisation. Fees are set by your chosen professional.

We offer both options. You can create a will with a one-time platform fee and keep it forever, or choose a subscription plan for ongoing benefits.

Subscription plans start with Silver and include additional storage and standard support with committed response times. Annual Platinum and VIP plans also include will refreshes. There’s no lock-in, so you can export your data and cancel at any time.

Our subscription tiers provide increasing levels of service:

• Silver: Enhanced storage, standard support (3-business-day response). Will generation and refreshes are pay-per-will
• Gold: Priority support + WhatsApp (1-business-day response). Will generation and refreshes are pay-per-will
• Platinum: Premium support + WhatsApp (same-day response). Will generation included; annual plan includes 4/year will refreshes
• VIP: Will generation included, unlimited will refreshes, personal relationship manager with phone & video support

All plans include free estate planning tools (document vault, asset tracker). Included will refreshes start on Platinum (annual plans; VIP: all billing cycles) and let you update and regenerate your will without paying the one-time fee again. Free, Silver and Gold subscribers, and monthly subscribers (except VIP), pay the discounted renewal fee per refresh. Monthly prices in your currency are on our Pricing page.

Yes. One-time purchasers can update their will at any time by paying a discounted renewal fee, for a single will or for mirror wills.

If you anticipate making regular updates, an annual Platinum or VIP subscription may be more cost-effective. Those plans include will refreshes (Platinum 4/year, VIP unlimited), so you can update without paying the renewal fee each time.

You have a 14-day statutory cooling-off period after each purchase or renewal. A refund requested in that period is approved automatically unless you asked us to start straight away and have already used the service. Our team reviews every other request, including later ones, and emails you the decision.

Free estate planning tools (document vault, asset tracker) are available to all users at no cost, so you can explore the platform before committing to will generation.

A legal review is an examination of your will by a qualified will writer. This is a mandatory step before your will can be finalised.

During the review, the will writer:

• Checks that your will meets all legal requirements for your jurisdiction
• Verifies that your wishes are clearly and unambiguously expressed
• Identifies any potential issues or conflicts
• Ensures proper execution instructions are included
• Coordinates printing and signing where physical wills are required

This step reduces the risk of your will being contested.

We provide a directory of qualified legal professionals who can review your will. You can browse professionals by:

• Location and jurisdiction expertise
• Languages spoken
• Practice areas and specialisations
• Availability and ratings

You can also use your own lawyer or will writer if you prefer. They don’t need to be listed on our platform.

Legal review fees are set independently by each will writer and are separate from TheWILL.ai’s will generation fee. Prices vary depending on:

• The complexity of your will
• Your jurisdiction
• The professional’s experience and qualifications

You can compare professionals and their fees in our directory before choosing one. The legal review fee is paid directly to your chosen professional.

Yes. You are free to have your will reviewed by any qualified legal professional of your choice. They do not need to be registered on our platform.

Before review, you can share a watermarked draft with your lawyer and make their suggested amendments on the platform. The full download is available once your will has been reviewed.

We offer several levels of support:

• Help Centre & FAQs: Comprehensive guides and articles covering common questions, available to all users
• Contact Form: Submit enquiries through your dashboard. Free users receive best-effort responses; Silver subscribers get a response within 3 business days
• WhatsApp Support: Available to Gold subscribers and above during business hours (Monday to Friday, 09:00 to 17:00 GMT)
• Personal Relationship Manager: VIP subscribers receive a named relationship manager reachable via WhatsApp, phone, and video

All response targets are measured during business hours (Monday to Friday, 09:00 to 17:00 GMT). For legal questions about the content of your will, we recommend consulting with a qualified will writer through our professional directory.

Yes. From Pro Starter upwards, you can create and manage your own custom will templates and template clauses tailored to your practice. Custom templates sit alongside TheWILL.ai’s platform-provided templates, giving you full flexibility over the documents you generate for clients.

Pro Free professionals can use platform-provided templates only. To unlock custom templates and clauses, upgrade to Pro Starter or above.

No. Every Pro plan includes built-in video consultations, with no external software needed.

Our video is designed specifically for legal consultations:

• Clients join via a secure browser link, with no app downloads or accounts required
• Recordings are attached directly to the client’s case file
• Consent is tracked automatically for compliance
• All data is encrypted and stored in UK/EU data centres

You can still use Zoom, Teams, or any other tool if you prefer. Our video is an option, not a requirement.

Every Pro plan includes video consultation hours:

• Pro Free: 5 hours per month
• Pro Starter: 20 hours per month
• Pro Growth: 30 hours per month
• Pro Enterprise: Unlimited

Recording and playback are included on all plans, and recordings are retained for 7 years on every professional tier. AI transcription is available from Pro Growth; AI consultation summaries are Pro Enterprise only.

Need more hours? Pro Free, Pro Starter, and Pro Growth subscribers can purchase extra video hours as a monthly add-on from your subscription dashboard, starting at £2.99/mo for an extra 2 hours.

Recordings count towards your plan’s storage quota. As your practice grows, additional storage is available via add-ons.

Each professional plan includes a set number of team seats:

• Pro Free: 1 seat (solo practitioner)
• Pro Starter: 2 seats
• Pro Growth: 5 seats included
• Pro Enterprise: Unlimited seats

Every team member gets their own login, professional dashboard, access to assigned clients, and personal estate planning features.

Pro Starter and Pro Growth subscribers can purchase additional seats as add-ons in packs of 1 (£10/month), 3 (£25/month), or 5 (£39.99/month). Annual billing is also available at a discount. Cancel anytime. Use the Practice Cost Calculator on our pricing page to estimate your total cost.

For more details, see our team seats guide.

Extra team seats are not available as add-ons on Pro Free. Pro Free is designed for solo practitioners and does not include team collaboration features such as role-based access control and shared client workflows.

If your practice is growing and you need more seats, Pro Starter includes 2 seats and Pro Growth includes 5 seats, both with the ability to purchase additional seats starting from £10/month. Pro Enterprise includes unlimited seats for large organisations.

We take security seriously to protect your data:

• All data travels over an encrypted connection and is stored encrypted at rest, with per-document keys rolling out
• Cloud-hosted infrastructure with regular security reviews
• Biometric authentication on mobile devices
• GDPR-compliant data handling

Your personal information is never sold or shared with third parties for marketing purposes.

Only you and your chosen reviewing professional can see your will unless you share it.

You can optionally:

• Share read-only access with beneficiaries or family members
• Provide executor access instructions
• Switch on emergency access for an emergency contact who has accepted the role, so they can ask for read-only access to your will after a waiting period you choose. You are told when they ask and can deny the request before the waiting period ends.

You can revoke shared access at any time.

All data travels over an encrypted connection and is stored encrypted at rest on secure cloud infrastructure, with per-document keys rolling out. We maintain regular backups to prevent data loss.

Our systems are GDPR-compliant, meaning your data is processed lawfully, stored securely, and you have the right to access, correct, or delete your information at any time.

No. Your personal data and will contents are never sold or shared with third parties for marketing or advertising purposes.

Data is only shared with:

• Your chosen will writer during the legal review process (with your explicit consent)
• Infrastructure providers who process data under strict contractual obligations

You can review our full privacy policy for complete details on data handling.

If you delete your account, we anonymise it and remove your personal data. Records the law requires us to keep, such as payment records, are kept until that period ends.

Before deleting, you can download PDF copies of your completed will and export any documents stored in your vault. Once deletion is complete, your data cannot be recovered.

Your signed, witnessed will is the legal document, not the copy we hold. It stays valid whatever happens to us, which is why we ask you to keep your signed original safe and tell someone where it is.

If we ever discontinued the service we would give at least 90 days’ notice by email, in the app and on the site. Billing and renewals would stop at that point, so the notice period costs you nothing, and throughout it you could export your documents and data (your will, vault documents, video messages and portfolio records) in standard formats. If you use the Will Location Registry, we would return your recorded location to you and tell the people you designated that the service is ending.

Prepaid amounts covering time beyond that window are refunded pro-rata, and add-on credits are not forfeited when we are the ones ending it. If we became insolvent, a refund claim would rank as an unsecured claim and may be paid in part or not at all. Section 13 of the Terms of Service sets all of this out in full.