The Draft Wills Bill – 9 months later

In May 2025, the Law Commission released detailed proposals on modernising the law of wills. The proposed amendments aim to better reflect modern life, digital behaviour and the past century of precedent. Our charities team reacted to the report – especially in regards to potential impacts on charity legacy teams, and we have been closely monitoring developments.

The draft Wills Bill

Some of the key elements of the proposals include: 

• Allowing wills to be made digitally.
• Allowing the court discretion to set aside execution formalities in appropriate circumstances.
• Updating the standard test for testamentary capacity to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 over Banks v Goodfellow.
• Reducing the minimum age for making a will to 16.
• Abolishing the principle of marriage automatically revoking a will.

The report received sector-wide support as many consider the modernisation of the law of wills long overdue. The Ministry of Justice "welcomed the report as an important and timely review of the existing law" and, at the time, stated its intent to review the report with "detailed consideration".

Several academic commentators and professional bodies such as STEP and the Institute of Legacy Management welcomed the proposals and particularly supported what would be the court's new powers to see justice done where the testator's wishes and intentions are clear. However, the proposals have sparked questions about what technological and other safeguards need to be put in place to protect testators intending to make a digital will.

Progress?

Despite the sector-wide excitement in May 2025, and the broad support for the proposals, there has been little in the way of developments in the meantime. This has led to some uncertainty in the industry. 

That's not to say to it has been absolute radio silence though.  Notably, in November 2025, the president of the Law Society, Mark Evans, said:

“Six months on from the Law Commission’s guidance to reform wills, there has been no movement from the government on updating this crucial law that affects every single one of us. It is imperative that the Wills Act is brought in line with our times, or else the government risks denying people access to justice and the right to protect their last wishes."

Six-months have now evolved into nine, but, encouragingly, the Ministry of Justice has just this month passed comment via their periodic report on the implementation of Law Commission recommendations.  The report, after a brief recap on the proposals themselves, says:

"The Government recognises that the current law is outdated, but the guiding principle in undertaking reform will be to ensure that it does not compromise existing freedoms or safeguards. The Government will make further announcements in due course, once it has given the report the detailed consideration it deserves. "

If nothing else, this recent statement shows that the proposals remain very much on the government's agenda.  There is no set timeline in the statement, so we have little choice but to remain in "wait and see" mode for the time being, but rest assured that we will continue to monitor this closely and will provide further updates to charity legacy teams whenever there is something material to report. 

If you would like to discuss the potential implications of the suggested reforms, please contact our experts.