Hewitsons aims to help more people draw up a Will

With a recent survey revealing that more than half of UK adults have yet to write a Will, Hewitsons law firm hopes the launch of a simple online tool will encourage more people to do so.

The questionnaire, which can be found on the Hewitsons website, allows people to take the first important steps in drawing up a Will in just 10 minutes.

By completing a series of questions concerning their family and financial circumstances, a lawyer from Hewitsons' highly rated Private Client team will be able to assess an individual’s situation and contact them to advise on the options available.

Catherine Ball, a partner in Hewitsons' Private Client team, said: "The online questionnaire is designed to help people take that crucial first step towards drawing up a Will. Surveys and Government statistics continually remind us that not enough of us have devoted time to what can often prove to be an absolutely vital piece of paper in later life. The fact that this initial questionnaire takes just a few minutes to complete will hopefully encourage people to fill it in during their lunch break or when they get home from work in the evening. Providing us with important background information up front also helps to save time filling in forms later on in the process."

The State directs who inherits if you do not make a Will so your friends, favourite charities and relatives may get nothing. It is particularly important to make a Will if you are not married or are not in a registered civil partnership as the law does not automatically recognise partners who live together as having the same rights as husbands, wives and civil partners.

A Will is also vital if you have children or dependants who may not be able to care for themselves. Without a Will there could be uncertainty about who will look after or provide for them if you die.

More than half of UK adults have yet to write a Will, according to a recent poll for charity Barnardo's, while Government records show that two thirds of UK adults still do not have a Will – a figure which has remained relatively stable for decades. The number of High Court cases involving disputes over Wills has also risen in recent years as a consequence of the recession.

Hewitsons' online Will questionnaire can be found here.