As of 13 August 2026, AI cannot check whether your will is valid.
This still needs a person who signs their name to it.
Can you do it?
5 minutesto a draft.
n/ait cannot be self-verified.
Cost, all in£0
Skill neededchat-fluent
Who has to check ita professional
What the alternative costsA solicitor is the appropriate alternative; no price is provided in the supplied data.
If this goes wrong, your estate may rely on an invalid will and the dispute may only become clear after your death.
What to actually do
Hand it to a person
The route this page recommends
Someone with a licence or accountable authority has to sign this before it counts.
Use a tool built for this
Second choiceDo it yourself
The distant thirdA chat interface gets you a draft, but you cannot verify it yourself. That is the catch.
How to actually do it
- Locate the signed will, any codicils, earlier wills and documents showing when they were prepared, and make clear scans or photographs of every page.
- Write down which UK jurisdiction applies, when and where the will was signed, who was present, and exactly how you and each witness signed it.
- Record whether either witness or their spouse or civil partner is named as a beneficiary, and note any illness, medication, pressure, dispute or drafting assistance relevant to the signing.
- Open a permitted AI chat or Genie AI, paste the prompt, upload the will and supporting documents, and ask it to produce a solicitor preparation checklist rather than a validity decision.
- Compare the AI's extracted quotations and factual checklist against every page of the original will and your signing notes, correcting any invented or missing detail.
- Send the original will, the corrected checklist and your questions to a UK wills solicitor and ask the solicitor to assess validity, capacity, undue influence and the effect of any beneficiary or witness issue.
Prompt
I have a will governed by the law of England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland: [state which]. I want a preparation checklist for a solicitor, not a legal conclusion. I will provide the will and these facts: when and where it was signed, whether I signed or acknowledged my signature in front of two witnesses present at the same time, whether each witness signed in my presence, the witnesses' relationship to anyone benefiting, my age and relevant health or medication facts at signing, whether anyone helped draft it or was present when it was signed, and whether there are earlier wills, family disputes or concerns about pressure or undue influence. Do not declare the will valid or invalid. Extract the relevant wording, identify missing facts, separate clear document observations from issues requiring professional judgement, and list the questions and documents I should take to a UK wills solicitor. Do not invent facts, quote only text supplied, and state clearly that this is not professional advice.
Open it prefilled in ChatGPT or Claude, or copy it into Gemini, which takes no prefill link.
What it gets wrong
- AI cannot establish what happened in the room when the will was signed or whether the witnesses properly observed the signing.
- AI cannot reliably assess testamentary capacity, undue influence or pressure from a document alone.
- AI cannot take responsibility for the legal conclusion or protect your estate if the assessment is wrong.
- AI cannot replace a solicitor's handling of conflicting evidence, earlier wills or a likely challenge by relatives.
- AI may identify formalities but still miss a fact that changes the outcome under the relevant UK jurisdiction.
What makes this a NO: legal accountability, verification cost and judgement under ambiguity.
How we scored this
Five axes, each scored nought to two by hand: ten means AI carries the task cleanly, and the thresholds that turn a total into YES, PARTLY or NO are published in the methodology. Each axis name links to its definition.
| Axis | Score (0–2) |
|---|---|
| Output | 1 |
| Inputs | 1 |
| Verification | 0 |
| Liability | 0 |
| Effort delta | 1 |
| Total | 3 / 10 |
The methodology and its thresholds are published in full.
FAQ
- Can ChatGPT tell me if my will is valid?
- No. It can extract clauses and organise questions about signing and witnessing, but it cannot reliably establish capacity, pressure or what happened when the will was executed. This is not professional advice, and a serious concern should go to a wills solicitor.
- What makes a will invalid in the UK?
- Possible problems include failures in signing or witnessing, lack of testamentary capacity, undue influence, fraud, uncertainty or a later will that changes the position. The applicable rules depend on whether the will is governed by England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, so ask a solicitor to assess the facts.
- Can AI check if my witnesses signed my will correctly?
- AI can compare the wording and apparent signatures with the account you give it, but it cannot prove who was present or whether each witness saw the signing. Ask both witnesses for their recollection and give that evidence, the original will and any codicil to a solicitor.
- Should I use a solicitor to check my will?
- Yes, especially if there is a family dispute, a beneficiary who was a witness, uncertainty about capacity, pressure, multiple wills or substantial assets. A solicitor can make the legal assessment and advise on replacing or storing the will; this is not professional advice.
Nearby answers
Assessed by gpt-5.6-luna (gpt-5.6-luna) on 2026-08-13, second-checked by an independent model. Wrong somewhere? Email [email protected] and it gets re-checked.
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