Digital Legacies: What UK Fundraisers Actually Need to Know About AI, Online Wills and e-Wills

Why the legal landscape is shifting

One of the biggest changes on the horizon, in terms of legacies, is legal reform. The Law Commission’s May 2025 report, Modernising Wills Law, proposes wide-ranging reforms, including giving legal recognition to fully electronic wills (e-will), lowering the age to make a will to 16 and strengthening protections against people being put under pressure to make certain decisions when making wills. The idea is to bring wills law into line with how people actually live – more digitally, flexibly and publicly online.

For fundraisers, this matters. If e-wills become more common, legacy fundraisers need to think beyond paper pledges and they will need to understand how donors are making their wills, how their intentions are stored and how charities can validate those digital pledges safely.

How people are already making wills online

Increasingly, people are using online will-writing platforms, not just traditional solicitors. This shift opens a real door for fundraisers: these digital-first will-makers are more likely to include a charitable legacy if prompted appropriately, and as such, legacy professionals and fundraisers should engage with the online will-writer world as part of their pipeline.

Fundraisers should seek to build relationships or partnerships with online will making services or at least have clear referral options. Speak the language your donors are using, e.g. “writing your will online”, and embed bequest prompts or sample wording that feels modern and accessible.

What AI is bringing, and what fundraisers should be wary of

Artificial Intelligence is also now creeping into estate planning. AI tools can prompt will-makers with smart questions e.g. “Do you want to leave a percentage, or a fixed sum to charity?”, help them model inheritance tax scenarios and even suggest tailored bequest language. These tools can make the will-writing journey simpler, faster and potentially more accurate for straightforward estates, which could lead to more people including a gift to charity in their will.

But AI is not infallible. It may mis-handle complex personal situations, misunderstand legal nuance or generate poorly worded clauses. As highlighted in discussions amongst legal professionals, relying solely on AI without a solicitor check could introduce risks, delay probate or even jeopardise a charitable gift.

For the legator, it is likely that the best choice is a hybrid model: i.e. let AI support the drafting of a will but make sure there’s a regulated professional to review the final will.

The promise and perils of electronic wills (e-wills)

If the Law Commission’s reforms gain traction, e-wills could become legally valid in England and Wales, but only under specific safeguards. These could include identity verification, secure digital storage and mechanisms to ensure the authenticity of the “original” electronic document.

Why is this a big deal? More people may make wills earlier in life; younger cohorts who are comfortable with digital-first habits could include legacies as part of their estate planning, and charities may see more pledges coming in from digitally-savvy donors. But to capitalise on that, legacy teams need to rethink how they capture and steward these pledges, as digital wills won’t necessarily pass through the same solicitor or legacy officer to a charity; it may be harder to know if a potential donor is considering leaving a gift.

There are also other real risks: undue influence, cyber tampering and fraud are more likely when documents exist only in electronic form. Similarly, charities must be clear on their systems for handling digital wills, including having strong verification processes in place and clear donor communications so that legators know how their information is stored and protected.

Real insight from the legacy market

Some of the most interesting data in the Legacy Giving Report comes from estate-size trends. It found that donors in the “mid-value” estate bracket (those with estates worth £1 – 3 million) are particularly generous: in 2024 these estates accounted for about 27% of the wealth in the sample but delivered a third of all charitable bequests.

This data provides a useful frame for fundraisers when crafting legacy appeals, implying that focusing solely on ultra-high net worth individuals is no longer the only viable option. Bequests from “middle” estates can be disproportionately impactful, so investing in messaging, outreach and engagement tailored to that segment may yield strong returns.