Why Solicitor Wills Cost So Much
Solicitors charge £400–£900 for a simple single will and £900–£1,500+ for anything more complex. That price pays for a qualified solicitor's time (£200–£350 per hour), their firm's overheads (office, insurance, admin), and usually a built-in aftercare package you didn't ask for — storage fees, amendment fees, and sometimes an executor clause naming the firm itself.
For a genuinely complex estate — business assets, overseas property, second marriages with stepchildren, trusts, or potential inheritance tax issues — paying solicitor rates is sensible. For a typical single person or couple with a home, savings and clear beneficiaries, it is paying hundreds of pounds for the same document you can get fixed-fee in a day.
Clear Legacy vs Solicitor: A Side-by-Side Comparison
| Clear Legacy | High-Street Solicitor | |
|---|---|---|
| Single will | £69 fixed | £400–£900 |
| Mirror wills (couple) | £99 fixed | £650–£1,400 |
| Turnaround | 24 hours | 2–6 weeks |
| Legal standard | Full England & Wales validity | Full England & Wales validity |
| Storage fee | None | £10–£30 per year |
| Amendment fee | Small fixed fee or free updates | £75–£400 |
| Executor fee on death | No firm-appointed executor | 1–5% of estate (if firm named) |
| Office visit required | No | Usually yes |
The legal document is the same. What you are really paying for with a solicitor is the office, the hourly rate, and the ongoing fee structure — not the validity of the will.
How Clear Legacy Keeps It Affordable
Three reasons we can charge £69 and still deliver a professionally drafted will:
- No office visits. Our questionnaire runs online, which removes the travel time and overhead that makes solicitor meetings expensive.
- Fixed-fee model. We don't charge by the hour and we don't take a percentage of the estate on death. You pay once, up front, and that is the whole cost of the will.
- Volume. We process thousands of wills a year using a tested questionnaire structure, so each one takes less time to draft without reducing quality.
How It Works — 5 Steps
Answer the questionnaire (15 minutes)
Tell us about you, your family, your beneficiaries, your executors and any specific gifts. The questionnaire is guided — there is no legal jargon to decode.
We draft your will
Your answers are turned into a professionally drafted will, written to the same legal standard solicitors use.
Compliance check
Before your document reaches you, we run it against England & Wales validity requirements and flag anything unusual.
You receive your will (within 24 hours)
Your drafted will is emailed as a PDF ready to print. Full instructions are included.
Sign it with two witnesses
Print the document, sign it in front of two independent adult witnesses (who then sign themselves), and store the original somewhere safe. That's it — your will is legally valid.
When Is an Affordable Will the Right Choice?
A fixed-fee online will is the right answer if most of these apply to you:
- Single person, married couple, or civil partners with a straightforward relationship structure
- One or two properties, savings, pensions, and personal possessions
- Clear intended beneficiaries (spouse, children, siblings, named friends or charities)
- Estate below roughly £1 million (no immediate inheritance tax planning needed)
- UK-based assets, no overseas property
You should speak to a solicitor rather than use an online service if you have:
- Business interests (especially limited company shares or partnerships)
- Overseas property or a non-UK domicile
- A blended family where you want to protect inheritance for children from a previous relationship
- Trusts, or assets you want placed into a trust
- A likely inheritance tax liability requiring estate planning strategy
- Concerns about capacity challenges or contested probate