Witnessing a will
Witnessing the last will and testament on the attestation clause is an essential step in making your will legal. If your will is not correctly witnessed, it is not valid. If you choose invalid witnesses (see below), they will not be able to inherit from your estate.
Your will must be signed by two witnesses, in your presence, at the same time as you sign the will.
A witness or the married/civil partner of a witness cannot benefit from the will.
A blind person cannot be a witness.
Witnesses must be an adult – ideally over 18 years of age.
A witness must be “of sound mind” and capable of understanding the nature and effect of what they are doing in witnessing your will.
If a witness is a beneficiary (or the married/civil partner of a beneficiary), the will is still valid but the witness/beneficiary will not be able to inherit from the will.
With Make a Will Online you will receive comprehensive instructions for signing and witnessing your will along with the document.
Recent rule changes have allowed witnessing of wills via a video link. We suggest this is done only as a very last resort. We have provided guidance on this here.