Cancer Research unveils free online will service

Cancer Research UK is offering a free online will service to those aged 55 and over, in conjunction with a leading firm of will writers.

The charity is working with Farewill, a company whose business model is based on using unregulated will checkers instead of solicitors.

Cancer Research is the biggest recipient of legacies in the country, with £182m raised this way in the 2017/2018 financial year.

Holly Eggleston, head of legacy planning, development and operations at the charity, told the Legal Futures website: “Cancer Research UK has been working with Farewill since October 2018 after a thorough tender and procurement process. The service went live on our website in June 2019.

“Supporter experience was a key factor in choosing to work with Farewill as there is a clear need for simple and accessible will-writing.

“More than one-third of all our funding comes from gifts in wills, which means that people who leave gifts to us fund a third of our life-saving work. This work is vital in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer, and has helped save millions of lives.”

According to its website, Farewill allows individuals to create a will in half an hour for a fee of £90. Its will checkers then manually check each will before returning it to the customer for witnessing.

Cancer Research says givers who prefer face-to-face advice can still write or update their will in person with one of a team of “nationwide partnered solicitors”.