Like so many other things these days, you can now find wills online. Not only that, but you can write wills online too. For many, writing a will is seen as something unpleasant as it forces us to think of our own mortality, but for a generation used to doing almost everything online, writing wills online might be the obvious way to go. It can, and certainly should, still be done through a solicitor, of course, but that doesn’t pose a problem either.

There are thousands of wills online. They range from the last will and testament of one, William Shakespeare, to virtual unknowns who bequeathed such mundane, and by today’s thinking, unpalatable things as a “heap of dung.” The Origins Network, a genealogist site, lists wills online, mainly from Surrey, that date back some four hundred years. Among these historic wills online there are no less than 57 mentions of a “heap of dung” being bequeathed to someone who probably felt quite richly honoured to receive it too.

Historic wills online are a curiosity and a great way to learn how people of an earlier age lived – and died. Sometimes the wills online can be amusing; Shakespeare, for example, left his “second-best bed” to his wife. Why not his first-best bed? Who knows… Wills online from an earlier and less prosperous time also serve to remind us that many of the things we take for granted were rare and often valuable items for some people. Pillows, blankets and kettles, for example, were once treasured items and were passed on, generation to generation.

There are many services available where you can write wills online, or register wills online. They serve a very useful purpose in an electronic age where the physical archive has been all but superceded by the digital database. Writing wills online is an easy process. The forms that need to be filled in are structured to keep your straight. There are also experts who can assist and advise you every step of the way.

Sadly, many think that making a will is something old people do. This is nonsense, for everyone, regardless of age, has a duty to make a will, and taking advantage of a wills online service is an easy, effective and very affordable way to do it. It is certainly true that you will have no need of your possessions once you die, but think of those you leave behind. Many a family has had their lives ruined because a prominent member of the family died without leaving a will.

The rules of intestacy say that the government will decide who gets what when someone dies with no will. All the more reason to make use of an easy to use wills online service, for it is highly likely that the government will not distribute your possessions as you would wish. Wills online are easy and fast to make. Wills online are entirely legal in every way too, so it really makes sense all round.