Step 1 — Decide what you are dealing with
Make a list of what you own and roughly what it is worth: your home and how it is owned (jointly or in your sole name), savings, pensions, life policies, a business or farm, vehicles, anything of sentimental value you want to go to a particular person. Note what you owe as well. You do not need valuations; you need to know what is there, because the questions that follow depend on it. If the total is likely to exceed £325,000, read our inheritance tax guide too.
Step 2 — Choose your executors
An executor is the person who carries out the Will: applies to the Probate Office in Belfast or Londonderry for the grant, gathers in the estate, pays the debts and tax, and distributes what is left. Choose someone organised and willing, and name a substitute in case they cannot act. An executor can also be a beneficiary; most people appoint their spouse or an adult child. You may appoint more than one.
Step 3 — Decide who inherits
Most Wills do three things: leave specific gifts (a sum of money, a piece of jewellery, a charity legacy), then leave the residue — everything else — to one or more people, then say what happens if a beneficiary dies before you. If you are married, remember that without a Will Northern Ireland’s intestacy rules do not necessarily give your spouse everything: with children they take £250,000 and a half or a third of the rest, and with no children but surviving parents or siblings they share with them. Our intestacy guide has the full shares. A Will replaces that statute with your own instructions.
If you have children under 18, this is also where you appoint guardians to bring them up, and decide the age at which they inherit outright. Under a Northern Ireland Will your trustees’ powers to hold and advance money for them come from the Trustee Act (Northern Ireland) 1958 — not the Trustee Act 1925 that an England and Wales Will would cite.
Step 4 — Have it written
You have four routes, and our cost guide compares them honestly: a solicitor (no published fee scale exists in Northern Ireland, so get a quote); a charity scheme such as Macmillan’s year-round free service or Will Aid in November (suggested donation £120); a do-it-yourself template, which is where most invalid Wills come from; or an online service such as ClearLegacy at £69 for a Single Will and £99 for Mirror Wills. Whichever you choose, the Will must be written for Northern Ireland: one drafted for England and Wales cites the wrong statutes and rests on the wrong intestacy and trustee law.
Step 5 — Sign it correctly
This is the step people get wrong, and a Will that is signed wrongly is not a Will. Article 5 of the Wills and Administration Proceedings (Northern Ireland) Order 1994 requires that the Will is in writing; that you sign it (or someone signs at your direction and in your presence); that you make or acknowledge your signature in the presence of two witnesses present at the same time; and that each witness then signs in your presence. All three of you in the room together, one after the other. Our validity guide goes through each requirement.
Step 6 — Choose the witnesses carefully
Any adult of sound mind can witness, but under Article 8 of the 1994 Order a gift to a witness, or to the witness’s spouse or civil partner, is void. The Will survives; the gift does not. So never use a beneficiary or a beneficiary’s husband, wife or civil partner. Neighbours, colleagues and friends who get nothing under the Will are ideal. An executor who is not a beneficiary can witness.
Step 7 — Store it and tell people
Keep the signed original somewhere safe and findable — with your solicitor, in a fireproof box at home, or lodged with the Probate Office, which charges £49 to deposit a Will — and tell your executors where it is. A Will nobody can find is no better than no Will.
Step 8 — Keep it current
Two events change a Will automatically in Northern Ireland. Marriage or civil partnership revokes it entirely under Article 12 unless it was made in contemplation of that marriage. Divorce or dissolution under Article 13 treats your former spouse as having died before you, so their gifts and any appointment as executor fail while the rest stands. Separation alone changes nothing. Beyond those, review your Will after every major event — a child, a house move, a death in the family, a change in what you own — and at least every five years.
How long it takes
With ClearLegacy the questionnaire takes about 15 minutes, a first draft follows straight away, and the signing-ready Will usually arrives within 24 hours. Every Will is checked before it is issued: a structured automated review checks it against the formalities of the 1994 Order, and the founder personally checks any Will the review flags. Then it is over to you and two witnesses.
Make your Will for Northern Ireland today
Single Will £69. Mirror Wills for a couple £99. Drafted under the 1994 Order, one free update included, usually delivered within 24 hours.
Start your Will — from £69 →Sources
- Wills and Administration Proceedings (Northern Ireland) Order 1994, Article 5 — the formalities for a valid Will.
- Wills and Administration Proceedings (Northern Ireland) Order 1994, Article 8 — gifts to witnesses and their spouses are void.
- Wills and Administration Proceedings (Northern Ireland) Order 1994, Articles 12 and 13 — revocation by marriage; the effect of divorce.
- Administration of Estates Act (Northern Ireland) 1955, section 7 — who inherits where there is no Will.
- Trustee Act (Northern Ireland) 1958, sections 32–33 — trustees' powers of maintenance and advancement under a Northern Ireland Will.
- Department of Justice — Court of Judicature (Non-Contentious Probate) Fee Schedule, 1 April 2026 — the £49 fee to deposit a Will with the Probate Office.
Frequently asked questions
How do I make a Will in Northern Ireland?
List what you own, choose executors and (if you have young children) guardians, decide who inherits, have the Will written for Northern Ireland law, then sign it in the presence of two independent adult witnesses who are both present at the same time and who each sign in front of you. Store the original safely and tell your executors where it is.
Can I make a Will online in Northern Ireland?
Yes. Will-writing is not a reserved legal activity in Northern Ireland, so you can use an online service, a charity scheme, a solicitor or a template. What matters is that the Will is drafted for Northern Ireland law and signed under Article 5 of the 1994 Order. ClearLegacy's Northern Ireland edition costs £69 for a Single Will and £99 for Mirror Wills.
Who can witness a Will in Northern Ireland?
Any adult of sound mind who is not a beneficiary and is not married to or in a civil partnership with one. Under Article 8 of the 1994 Order a gift to a witness or their spouse is void, though the Will itself remains valid. Both witnesses must be present at the same time when you sign or acknowledge your signature.
Does a Will made in England work in Northern Ireland?
It is unlikely to fail for want of form, because the signing requirements are almost identical. But its content will be wrong: it will cite the Wills Act 1837 rather than the 1994 Order, assume England and Wales intestacy and trustee law, and may not do what you intended if it is ever tested. If you live in Northern Ireland, have a Will written for Northern Ireland.
Does getting married cancel my Will in Northern Ireland?
Yes. Under Article 12 of the 1994 Order marriage or civil partnership revokes an existing Will unless it was made in contemplation of that particular marriage. Divorce does not revoke it but, under Article 13, treats your former spouse as having died before you.
How much does it cost to make a Will in Northern Ireland?
From nothing to several hundred pounds. Macmillan runs a free service all year; Will Aid in November suggests a £120 donation for a single Will; ClearLegacy charges £69 single and £99 for Mirror Wills; solicitors quote individually, as no published fee scale exists in Northern Ireland.
Do I need a solicitor to make a Will in Northern Ireland?
No. The 1994 Order says nothing about who drafts the document; a Will is valid if it meets the formalities however it was produced. A solicitor is worth paying for advice on complicated circumstances — a business, a farm over £1 million, a blended family, foreign assets — rather than for the drafting itself.
Where should I keep my Will in Northern Ireland?
Somewhere safe that your executors know about: with your solicitor, in a fireproof box at home, or lodged with the Probate Office, which charges £49 to deposit a Will under the 2026 fee schedule.