Will Aid is an annual Will making campaign that takes place every November, run collaboratively by eight leading charities, Age UK, British Red Cross, Christian Aid, Crisis, NSPCC, Shelter, SCIAF and Trocaire. The campaign is made possible by the nationwide support of the legal profession, who generously volunteer their time and expertise in order to raise much needed funds for our eight partner charities, both through in-person appointments and via our Remote List.

It's really simple. You write basic wills for people, waiving your usual fee for doing so and instead inviting clients to make an upfront donation to Will Aid. Suggested donation amounts are £120 for single basic wills and £200 for a pair of basic mirror wills. You can meet clients in-person, or connect with Will-makers across the UK via phone or video call by signing up to our Remote List.

All costs should be waived for writing basic Wills, the only exception being if you require a third-party service to verify a client’s identity which you can pass on, but you must pass on the cost price only. Any time involved is part of the time you are volunteering. We have a special partnership with Verify 365 to ensure this is as low as possible.

As a guideline, our definition of a basic Will covers an estate where the client is leaving everything to a few of family members, friends and charities; which does not require detailed inheritance tax advice; and which has no assets outside the UK. It will also include a couple of executors. It does not include setting up Trusts, powers of attorney or other devices. You would charge for these separately.

Every Will written for a client that comes via Will Aid, whatever their requirements, should be treated as a Will Aid Will, with you waiving your fees for the basic part and inviting the client to make an upfront donation to Will Aid.

If the client requires devices in their Will or more complex advice (such as LPAs, trusts or complex inheritance advice), you are free to charge a separate fee for the additional work. All we ask is that you clarify and agree the nature of the additional work and the fees involved with the client, prior to accepting their instructions.

From September onwards, we run a publicity campaign to generate enquiries from potential Will makers. People can search for participating solicitors using their postcode on our website. They will then see either a list of firms local to their area, or if we don’t have any participating firms near their postcode, a list of firms that have signed up to the Remote List.

The Remote List connects your firm with Will-makers all over the UK, who are happy to have phone or video call consultations, expanding your firm’s reach and helping Will-makers who do not have a local participating solicitor. If you can write Wills via phone or video call, we recommend that you join the Remote List as it’s a great way to help you reach more clients and raise more money for our partner charities (see ‘What is the Remote List?’ FAQ).

After choosing a firm, they make their enquiry via our website and their enquiry will appear in your easy to use and secure online Dashboard. You then just need to contact them to arrange an appointment.

You are notified daily of any new enquiries via email and some enquirers may call you directly to make their appointment. It’s up to you whether you begin seeing people straight away, or book them in for November.

The Remote List connects your firm with Will-makers all over the UK who don’t have a Will Aid firm local to them, so you can expand the reach of your firm and develop a nationwide client base. The Remote List means you are happy to take instructions over the phone or via video call, providing the same professional expertise as if you were meeting in-person.

This is a great way of increasing the number of enquires you receive, increasing the reach of your firm and opportunities for new business, and of course, write more Wills which means more vital donations for our partner charities.

The donation is voluntary and at the discretion of the Will maker. Instead of charging your normal fee for drawing up a basic Will, you invite Will makers to consider donating to Will Aid – we suggest £120 for a single basic will and £200 for a pair of basic mirror wills.

The vast majority of Will Aid clients are happy to donate at or above the suggested amounts.

We know some firms now require this, and you can pass on the cost to the client – but the cost price only. Any time involved is part of your volunteering. We have a partnership with Verify 365 to keep costs as low as possible for Will Aid clients, and you should use this service if your own costs more. You can find further details and access this service via your Will Aid Dashboard.

Will Aid is very simple to run – there is no complicated administration and VAT is not applicable as the donation is voluntary. You are free to schedule Will Aid meetings as you wish – either solely within the Will Aid month of November or spread over a longer period. You can of course limit the number of Will makers to match your capacity. Just contact the Will Aid office when you have reached the limit of your appointments and we will divert prospective Will makers to other firms.

Some firms carry out hundreds of Will Aid Wills; others do just a few. It is entirely up to you. Once you have received sufficient enquiries, let the Will Aid Campaign office know and we will stop promoting your firm as part of the campaign. You may, however, receive a few more enquiries from people who have already been given your details and you just need to refer these enquirers back to the Will Aid office.

You are free to schedule your appointments at your convenience. November is the ‘official’ Will Aid month but if you would prefer to spread out the work you are very welcome to take appointments before or after November. As well as arranging appointments in-person for people local to you. Remember you can also arrange appointments with Will-makers from right across the UK, via video call or on the phone. To do so, you will need to sign up to our Remote List.

The easiest way for your client to make their donation is to do it via Debit/Credit Card on our website. When the do so, you will receive an email confirming their donation.

Clients can also donate via cheque made payable to Will Aid, which you can send to us using the Freepost stickers we provide. If you are sending cheques, all we ask is that one of our Donation Receipts are completed and sent for each client/cheque.

The donation has to be at the discretion of the client or it ceases to be a donation and would become a fee liable to VAT.

We advise inviting the client to make their donation at point of instruction. People know you are volunteering your time to raise funds for the life-changing work of our eight partner charities, and we find very few donate below the suggested amounts.

No, it is not possible to choose which charity they make their donation to. As Will Aid is a partnership of eight charities who all share the costs of running the scheme, they have agreed that all the donations will be divided between them, so donations must be made to Will Aid.

However, clients can leave a legacy to one or more their favourite Will Aid charities (or indeed any other charity) in their Will.

There is no requirement for Will Aid clients to leave a charitable bequest. However, your clients are likely to be well disposed towards charities, so we would be grateful if you would consider asking them if they thought about including a gift to a charity in their Will once they have taken care of their loved ones. If this is something they go on to do, please let us know the charity and the amount if possible.

Knowing that funds may become available allows them to plan for the future. Many people do not automatically think of leaving a charitable bequest and so it helps if you could remind your clients of this opportunity. With some clients, it might also be worth asking them to consider taking advantage of Legacy 10 which came into force on 6th April 2012.

All the donations raised during Will Aid month support the vital work of the eight partner charities.

Thanks to the hard work and generosity of participating solicitors, since 1988, more than £20 million has been donated through Will Aid and millions more has been promised in legacies. Will Aid donations support the participating charities work to improve the lives of children, families, older people and whole communities in the UK and around the world. The income from legacies will help ensure that the vital work of the Will Aid charities continues for future generations.

As a special offer to Will Aid clients, you can arrange for a Will Aid Will to be registered with the National Will Register for free. Simply log in and use the redemption code ‘willaid2025’.