The Law Commission’s long-awaited proposals to modernise the Wills Act 1837 were published on 16 May 2025, marking a significant step toward reforming a law that has remained largely unchanged for nearly two centuries, comment Solicitor, Hollie Travers, and Business Services and Legal Assistant, Amelia Martin. Backed by The Law Society and the Government, the draft bill introduces changes designed to reflect the realities of modern life while strengthening protection for vulnerable individuals.

The Law Society of England and Wales has expressed strong support for the Law Commission’s review aimed at reforming legislation that has remained largely unchanged since the Wills Act of 1837 (‘the Wills Act’).

With endorsement from both The Law Society and the Government, the Law Commission published its final report and draft bill on 16 May 2025. The report proposes modernising the Wills Act to improve clarity, strengthen protections, and reflect the realities of modern life.

Some of the key recommendations are briefly outlined below.

Electronic Wills

An ‘electronic will’ is simply a will made, stored and signed, in electronic format. Electronic wills are not currently valid under the Wills Act. The proposed reforms seek to formally recognise electronic wills, provided they meet the core stringent requirements of traditional paper wills. These include:

• Secure systems to safeguard the document;
• Verification of the signatures of both the testator and two witnesses; and
• Assurance that only the testator, or authorised individuals, can amend or destroy the will.

Testamentary Freedom and Protection

Further proposals seek to address testamentary freedom and protection by:

• Lowering the minimum age: an individual is currently required to be 18 years old in order to execute a valid will. The proposal is that this age requirement would be reduced from 18 to 16. This change reflects evolving societal norms and provides testamentary freedom for young people in situations where expressing their final wishes is important. Courts would also have the authority to permit a child under 16 to make a will, if their capacity has been confirmed by the family court.
• Ending automatic revocation by marriage or civil partnership: under current law, marriage or civil partnership automatically revokes an existing will. The proposed reform seeks to abolish this rule to protect individuals from financial abuse through predatory marriages.
• Limiting witness conflicts of interest: currently a witness to a will cannot receive a benefit under that same will. This also applies if the witness is a spouse or civil partner of a beneficiary. The proposed reform would extend this rule to cohabitants, and to prevent those signing on behalf of the testator from being beneficiaries of that will. This is intended to further safeguard the testator and hold witnesses to impartiality.

Statutory Authority and Dispensing Powers

• Court dispensation in exceptional circumstances: the courts would be granted discretion to validate wills that may not strictly comply with formal legal requirements, provided there is clear evidence of the testator’s intentions. This flexibility would help avoid invalidating wills which reflect the testator’s clear intentions, due to technical errors or misunderstanding of the formalities.
• Addressing undue influence: undue influence arises where an individual is coerced into executing a will, normally to the benefit of the influencer. This is currently very difficult to prove. The reforms propose lowering the proof required such that the court could intervene where there is suspicion of undue influence, further protecting vulnerable individuals and ensuring fair outcomes.
• Updating mental capacity standards: the proposed legislation would align the assessment of testamentary capacity with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 alone, which is currently also decided by reference to the test in Banks v Goodfellow of 1870.

If you would like advice on making or updating a will in light of these proposed reforms, please get in touch with our Private Wealth team, who will be happy to assist.