E-wills are coming, but Bristol wills still run on a law from 1837

In May 2025 the Law Commission published Modernising Wills Law, the biggest set of recommendations on wills in a generation. Among them: electronic wills should one day be capable of being legally valid, and the report arrived with a ready-drafted Bill for a whole new Wills Act. More than a year on, that Bill is still with the Government, and the law that decides whether your will actually works remains the Wills Act 1837.

What the Law Commission has recommended

The final report, published on 16 May 2025, runs to two volumes. The first sets out the recommendations. The second contains a draft Bill for a new Wills Act that would bring them into force, including the framework that could make electronic wills valid for the first time. The Commission's own position is that it is now for Government to review and consider the recommendations. There is no new Act, and no timetable for one.

Why that gap matters in Bristol

Until Parliament changes the law, the formalities set in 1837 still decide everything. A will must be in writing, signed by you, and witnessed by two people who are present with you at the same time. Miss a formality and the will can fail, which means the estate you carefully planned is shared out under the intestacy rules instead, in a strict order fixed by law. An unmarried partner has no automatic right to inherit under those rules, however long you have been together.

The risk of waiting for e-wills

Headlines about electronic wills tempt people to put the job off. Why sort it now if you will be able to do it on your phone soon? The honest answer is that nobody can say when, or even whether, the draft Bill becomes law. Waiting for a change with no date is not a plan. If something happens in the meantime, your family deals with the 1837 rules, not the future ones.

What to do this summer instead

Three practical steps. First, if you have no will, have one professionally drafted and properly witnessed now; when the law modernises, updating it will be simple. Second, if your will is more than a few years old, or life has changed since it was written, marriage, divorce, a new home, a new child, have it reviewed. Third, make sure your executors know exactly where the signed original is kept. A perfect will nobody can find helps nobody.

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This article is general information, not legal advice. The law described is as published in July 2026 and may change. For advice on your circumstances, speak to a qualified professional.

Sources: Law Commission, Modernising Wills Law (report and draft Bill, 16 May 2025); GOV.UK, Making a will; GOV.UK, Check who inherits if someone dies without a will.