Who actually needs a will?
Almost every adult with anything they care about: a home, savings, children or a partner. If you die without a will in England or Wales, the intestacy rules distribute your estate down a fixed family ladder, unmarried partners get nothing, and the court decides who raises children under 18 if no guardian was appointed. Around half of UK adults still have no will, mostly because it feels like a big legal project. For straightforward estates it is not: a valid will needs to be written down, signed and witnessed by two independent adults under the Wills Act 1837. There is no registration, no court step and no requirement to involve a solicitor; what matters is that the document is executed properly and kept where your executors can find it.
Moments that change the answer
Some life events do not just make a will sensible, they make an existing one wrong. Marriage or civil partnership usually revokes a will made before it. Divorce cancels gifts to a former spouse but leaves the rest standing, which can produce strange results. A new baby raises the guardianship question. Buying a home together raises the joint ownership question, especially for unmarried couples. If you already have a will and any of this has happened since, run the free will health check instead.
What the quiz recommends and why
The eight questions cover the things that actually change what you need: relationship status, children, property and how complex your affairs are. Straightforward single estates usually suit the single will kit; couples with matching wishes suit the mirror wills kit. Blended families, business assets or foreign property usually mean a solicitor is worth the fee, and the quiz says so rather than selling you a kit that does not fit. Read our complete will-writing guide for the full picture, or browse the wills and will writing hub. General information, not legal advice.