Most consumers no longer use solicitors for wills

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Will: Consumers turning to unbundling

The proportion of consumers using solicitors for their wills has dropped below half for the first time, a report has found, with unbundling growing in popularity.

However, demand for advice on powers of attorney is continuing to grow, with 22% of consumers using these services, up from 18% last year.

IRN Legal Reports said that, for the first time since its annual survey began six years ago, more than four out of ten consumers (41%) said they had a will, with a further 21% saying they would make one in the next few months.

Just under half, 49%, used solicitors for wills, down from 50% last year and 56% in 2020, while the proportion using will writers also fell in this year’s report, to 19% from 21% in 2024. The median fixed fee for a will was £130, up from £125.

However, the percentage writing their own DIY will increased to 13% – it was only 8% in 2023 – and there was also an increase in unbundling, where consumers wrote some of the will themselves but handed “the more complicated parts” to lawyers.

One in 10 consumers opted for unbundling, up from 4% in 2023.

The percentage of consumers using search engines and visiting consumer review sites grew strongly in both cases from 7% to 12%.

IRN Legal Reports surveyed 680 consumers who had made a will and 270 who had been involved in the probate process for the UK Wills & Probate Market 2025.

The proportion obtaining a free will by making charitable donations or from life insurance or pension providers fell to 16% this year, from 19% in 2024 and 22% the year before.

The use of funeral plans grew to 15%, from 12% in 2024, and pre-paid probate plans from 4% to 9%.

Co-operative Legal Services, which announced a 30% rise in profits earlier this month, was the only private client brand recognised by most consumers and by far the best known, with two-thirds recognising it compared to 50% for the next on the list, Irwin Mitchell.

Slater & Gordon followed on 43%, and only two others with more than 20% recognition – Which? Legal (24%) and Thompsons (22%). Shoosmiths, Bequeathed and Simpson Millar all had more than 10% recognition.

Researchers commented: “Actual use of any specific brand is relatively low even for those with the highest awareness. This reflects the fragmented nature of the market with thousands of firms and individuals offering services and a percentage of those making a will going back to law firms and advisers that they have used before.”

IRN said that no brand had been used by more than 10% of consumers in their survey, with Cooperative Legal Services used by 8%.

As in previous reports, a high proportion of consumers (four out of 10) believed that all will writers were regulated.

Opinions were divided on video witnessing of wills, with almost half of consumers saying it would be better and more convenient if it was permitted, as it was in the pandemic, and the same percentage (48%) concerned it was open to abuse.

Against a background of delays in the probate process, 45% of consumers agreed that it took longer than they were expecting, up from four out of 10 last year.

The proportion who paid for probate services via a fixed fee hit two thirds, up from a half in 2020.