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Aipedia: Will writers and estate planners
England and Wales has no specific provision for electronic wills yet, so a will produced with AI should still be signed and witnessed under the current rules. Invalid execution remains one of the simplest and most costly ways a will fails.
Part of: AI in Will writers and estate planners
In short
The Law Commission recommended in May 2025 that electronic wills should be formally valid, with safety and reliability requirements, and that courts should have power to dispense with formalities. The government is still reviewing the draft Bill. Until legislation passes, a will must be in writing, signed and witnessed in the traditional way. The will writing codes require supervised attestation to be offered (IPW 10.1 to 10.3, SWW 6.4), with written warnings and a free check where signing is unsupervised. Execution failures usually lead to claims under PI, subject to the terms.
AI has made it quick to produce a will, which increases the share of the process spent on the one step technology cannot yet do: valid signing and witnessing. Online and AI-driven services often post the will to the client with instructions to sign it themselves. Some firms use AI assistants to produce the signing instructions or a checking chatbot to answer questions on witnessing. Clients may also ask whether they can sign electronically, because they sign most other documents that way.
Under section 9 of the Wills Act 1837, a will must be in writing and signed by the person making it (or by someone in their presence and at their direction), the signature must be made or acknowledged in the presence of two or more witnesses present at the same time, and each witness must sign or acknowledge their signature in the will-maker's presence. The law makes no specific provision for electronic signatures on wills, so firms should not rely on them, and a beneficiary or their spouse should not act as a witness.
The Law Commission's Modernising Wills Law report of 16 May 2025 recommends specific provision for electronic wills to be formally valid with safety and reliability requirements, and a court power to dispense with formalities where a document reflects settled testamentary intentions. The government has published an initial response and is reviewing the draft Bill; nothing has been enacted, and the report does not mention AI. Firms should not offer electronic signing for wills until the law changes.
IPW Code clauses 10.1 to 10.3 encourage supervised signing, free for new documents, and require written warnings and a free postal check where signing is not supervised. Clause 7.3.8 puts the offer of free supervised attestation in the letter of engagement. SWW Code clause 6.4 requires supervised attestation to be offered, or a free attestation check. These duties apply equally to AI-driven and online services. See will writing codes and AI.
Illustrative scenario: a firm sends a client an AI-drafted will with automated signing instructions and no offer of supervised attestation. The client signs with one neighbour present; a second neighbour signs later the same day. No one checks the returned will. After the client's death, the will is found to be invalid and the estate passes under an earlier will or the intestacy rules. The intended beneficiaries claim against the firm.
Other common failures are a beneficiary's spouse acting as witness, pages that look as if they have been swapped, and an unsigned will stored as if it were valid. Capacity questions often arise at signing too; see AI, capacity and undue influence.
A claim that a will failed for want of proper execution is usually treated as negligence in the firm's services, within the £2 million minimum IPW clause 1.7 and SWW clause 2.12 require. Insurers may look closely at whether the code's supervised signing and checking duties were followed. A firm that skipped them may still be covered, but the claim is harder to defend. Disappointed-beneficiary claims of this kind are discussed in a will drafting error scenario.
For drafting errors before signing, see AI will drafting software.
Apex arranges PI for will firms offering remote and supervised signing services, and can review how your policy responds to execution claims. See AI in will writing and will writer insurance.
Not reliably under current law, which makes no specific provision for it. The Law Commission recommended making electronic wills formally valid in May 2025, but the government is still reviewing the draft Bill, so wet signatures and two witnesses present together are still required.
IPW members must encourage supervised signing and provide it free for new documents, with warnings and a free check otherwise. SWW members must offer supervised attestation or a free attestation check under clause 6.4.
Yes. IPW members must offer a free postal check where signing is not supervised, and SWW members must offer supervised attestation or a free attestation check. Checking every returned will before storing it catches most execution errors while the client can still re-sign.
If enacted, a court could in some cases admit a document that reflects settled testamentary intentions despite defects. It is not law yet, and it would involve court proceedings and cost, so it is no substitute for proper signing.
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Start a PI quote Request a callbackApex Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered in England and Wales, company number 07014570. This page is general information about how AI is used in the profession and how insurance may respond. It is not legal, regulatory or insurance advice on your circumstances, and it does not guarantee that cover will be available or on what terms.
