What actually happens when a solicitor makes your will

Ever wondered what you are actually paying a solicitor for when it's “just a will”? Let me pull back the curtain — because the document you sign at the end is the smallest part of the job. Here is the process, step by step, and why each step exists.

It starts with a conversation, not a form

A proper fact-find covers your family — including the step-relationships and the complicated bits — your assets and how they are owned, your wishes, and your worries. The questions are not admin; they are the service. They surface the issues you didn't know you had: the joint tenancy pointing the wrong way, the stepchild the wording would exclude, the guardianship gap.

The quiet professional checks

While we talk, two assessments are running that you barely notice. Capacity: the law sets a test for whether someone can validly make a will, and a solicitor is assessing it and recording it. Independence: making sure no one is leaning on you. Neither changes the conversation — but both make your will defensible if anyone ever challenges it later. A contemporaneous solicitor's file is powerful evidence.

Advice: the options you didn't know existed

Substitute beneficiaries if someone dies before you. Survivorship clauses. Guardians for children. The right structure for a blended family. Trusts where they are genuinely needed — and, just as importantly, not where they are not. The right tool only; no upselling.

Drafting with tested language

Professional wills read formally for a reason: every phrase has case law behind it — wording that has already survived court. Precision here is what prevents the “which money? which family?” disputes that ambiguous homemade wording invites.

Review, then a supervised finish

You see everything in plain English, ask anything, change anything. Then the execution — supervised, so the witnessing ceremony is done exactly right, with the right people in the right places. The finish line is where DIY wills die; here, someone walks you across it.

Afterwards: storage guidance, and the trigger list for reviews — marriage (which revokes a will), divorce, births, house moves. A will is a living document, and you'll know when to revisit it.

How I work

My own practice runs this whole process online, across England & Wales, for clear fixed fees — evenings and weekends included, plain language throughout, and a free no-obligation chat before anything begins. If that sounds like the way you'd want it done, you know where the button is.