The Chair of the House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee has called for progress on wills reform in an open letter to minister for courts and legal services Sarah Sackman.
Lord Foster of Bath has called on the government to “clarify what action it is taking to make digital wills legally valid, how it intends to implement the Law Commission’s recommendations” in a letter published last week.
Writing in his capacity as chair of the Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee Lord Foster said an update was “now due” after commitments by the government in February and June 2026 to make further announcements “in due course on progress.
“It has now been over 17 months since the Law Commission published its report” said Lord Foster in the letter. “It is the view of this Committee that the course is now due.”
In May 2025, the Law Commission published its report Modernising Wills Law, setting out key recommendations to update legislation that has remained largely the same since the Wills Act 1837.
The comprehensive review of Wills law made recommendations regarding mechanisms for giving effect to intentions where wills are invalid for procedural reasons (dispensing powers); reducing the age at which a Will can be written to 16; applying rectification where a court is satisfied that the Will does not give effect to the testator’s intentions because the drafter failed to understand the meaning or direct effect of the language used in the Will; and the abolition of the revocation of Wills after marriage.
The Commission also tackled the growing challenge of undue influence and capacity in its 500 page report, which also laid the groundwork for electronic Wills.
Lord Foster said the Committee supports the Law Commission’s recommendation to introduce digital wills, arguing that modernisation could make estate planning more accessible while preserving appropriate safeguards against fraud and forgery.
The letter calls on the government to respond to questions regarding the steps being taken to amend or introduce legislation which would make digital wills formally valid, on an equal basis to paper wills; to implement the recommendations in the Law Commission report on Modernising Wills Law, and what are the timelines for implementation; when a full response will be published; and why there has been a “significant delay in fully responding to the Modernising Wills Law report.”
Commenting further Lord Foster said: “Electronic signatures and documents are an increasingly common part of our lives, a rate of change that moved faster still after the COVID-19 lockdowns. Electronic documents and signatures can be used to sign statements for use in criminal proceedings. They can be used to open bank accounts, buy property, obtain mortgages, and purchase vehicles. Yet while they can be used to amass an estate, they cannot be used to bequeath one, as the legal requirements governing wills remain rooted in the Wills Act 1837.
“The Law Commission has argued that the law must support testamentary freedom and that enabling wills to be made electronically is critical to doing so for future generations. The Law Society has also backed reform, warning that failure to act risks undermining people’s ability to protect their final wishes.
“The Committee is also concerned about the time taken by the Government to respond fully to the Law Commission’s recommendations. More than 17 months after the Modernising Wills Law report was published, the Government has yet to provide its full response. Government statements in the period since publication have repeatedly indicated that further announcements would be made “in due course”.
“We urge the Government to clarify what action it is taking to make digital wills legally valid, how it intends to implement the Law Commission’s recommendations, when its full response will be published and why there has been a significant delay.”
Earlier this year an industry initiative published an open letter calling on the government to speed up progress on making digital wills legally valid, signed by seven cross-party MPs, including Wera Hobhouse MP, Matt Bishop MP and Ayoub Khan MP; and industry figures including Sarah Williams, CEO of Accord Legal Services, Stephanie Patrick, chief executive of Widowed and Young, and Andrew Byres, founder of SafeKeep.
