As of 13 August 2026, AI cannot check whether your will is legally valid in the UK.

What to actually do

1. Hand it to a person

   The route this page recommends

   Someone with a licence or accountable authority has to sign this before it counts.

2. Use a tool built for this

   Second choice

3. Do it yourself

   The distant third

   A chat interface gets you a draft, but you cannot verify it yourself. That is the catch.

   How to actually do it

   1. Identify whether the will concerns England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, then open the relevant official GOV.UK guidance and note the jurisdiction and signing date.
   2. Gather the original will if available, any earlier or later wills, documents about marriage or civil partnership, divorce, children and named beneficiaries, and the names and relationships of the witnesses.
   3. Write down what happened when the will was prepared and signed, including who arranged it, who was present, whether the witnesses signed as required, and any concern about understanding, pressure or coercion.
   4. Paste the will text or a transcription and those facts into the prompt, removing unnecessary identity numbers and contact details while leaving the wording, dates and relationships accurate.
   5. Use the chatbot's output only to make a question list, then compare each formal concern with the official guidance and mark every point the chatbot could not determine.
   6. Send the will, your factual timeline and the unanswered questions to a solicitor experienced in wills and probate, and ask them to assess validity before you rely on the will or make changes.

   Prompt

   I need a cautious screening of whether this will appears to meet the formal requirements for the UK jurisdiction stated below. This is not professional advice and must not be treated as a final validity decision.
   
   Jurisdiction: [England and Wales / Scotland / Northern Ireland]
   Date the will was signed, if known: [DATE]
   How and where it was signed: [DETAILS]
   Who was present: [DETAILS]
   Witness names, addresses and relationship to me or any beneficiary: [DETAILS]
   Relevant facts about marriage, civil partnership, divorce, children, beneficiaries and executors: [DETAILS]
   Any concerns about illness, lack of understanding, pressure, coercion, fraud or a beneficiary's involvement in preparing or witnessing the will: [DETAILS]
   Will text or transcription: [PASTE TEXT]
   
   Separate your response into:
   1. Formal points that appear satisfied.
   2. Possible problems, with the exact wording or fact that creates each concern.
   3. Facts you cannot determine from the material supplied.
   4. Questions I should take to a solicitor.
   5. A short list of documents and evidence I should preserve.
   
   Do not say that the will is valid or invalid. Do not invent facts, assume a jurisdiction, rely on rules from another UK jurisdiction, or give instructions to alter, sign or destroy the will. Distinguish issues about signing and witnessing from issues such as testamentary capacity, undue influence, fraud, family claims and later changes. Tell me to consult a solicitor experienced in wills and probate if any concern is material, disputed or unclear.

   Open it prefilled in ChatGPT or Claude, or copy it into Gemini, which takes no prefill link.