Disclaimer — This article provides general educational information only and does not constitute legal, financial, or tax advice. Charitable-gift rules…
General Information Only: This article is general information, not legal advice. For advice specific to your circumstances, consult a qualified Queensland estate lawyer.
Type “make a will online” into Google and you’ll find dozens of services promising a legal will from your couch in under half an hour, often for less than a tank of petrol. Online wills in Queensland sit in an odd legal position: the technology is modern, but the law it has to satisfy dates from a time when every will was paper, pen and two people standing in the same room.
That law hasn’t changed. And it’s where most online wills go wrong. Many people also want to know whether a digital will, app-based will or online will kit is legally valid in Queensland — the answer below covers all three.
Quick answer: Online wills can be valid in Queensland — but only if the finished document is printed and then signed in wet ink in front of two witnesses who are present at the same time. A will that is e-signed, witnessed by video, or stored only as a digital file does not meet Queensland’s legal requirements.
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What Counts as an “Online Will”?
The phrase gets used loosely, and the differences matter:
| Type | How It Works | Validity Position |
|---|---|---|
| Online will builder | A questionnaire generates a will document, which you print and sign | Valid if executed correctly on paper |
| Subscription will platform | Stores your will digitally and lets you update it for an ongoing fee | The stored copy is not the will — the signed paper original is |
| Document download | A generic will form purchased online and filled in yourself | The digital cousin of the paper will kit — see our will templates guide |
| Purely digital “will” | A file, video or message that is never printed or signed | Not valid without a Supreme Court rescue application |
This article is about the digital services. For paper kits and templates, we’ve covered the pros and cons in our Queensland will templates guide.
What Queensland Law Requires of Any Will
The rules come from section 10 of the Succession Act 1981 (Qld) [1], and they’re short enough to memorise. A valid will must be:
- in writing — typed or handwritten, but it must exist as a document;
- signed by the will-maker, or by someone else at their direction and in their presence; and
- signed by two witnesses, both present at the same time when the will-maker signs.
Notice what’s missing from that list: any mention of how the document was created. The law doesn’t care whether your will was drafted by a solicitor, a website, or you at the kitchen table. Validity is decided entirely by what happens at the signing.
That cuts both ways. A will generated online and executed perfectly is exactly as valid as one prepared by a law firm. A will generated online and signed badly — wrong witnesses, witnesses not together, a page missed — may be worthless. The rules about who can act as a witness, and the mistakes that invalidate a signing, are covered in our guide to who can witness a will in Queensland.
Can You Sign a Will Electronically in Queensland?
No — not at the time of writing. This is the single most misunderstood point about online wills.
During COVID-19, Queensland temporarily allowed wills to be witnessed over video link. Those arrangements ended, and when Queensland made some remote-witnessing reforms permanent in 2022, wills were deliberately excluded [2]. As the law currently stands, Queensland generally requires a will to be signed physically, in wet ink, in the presence of two witnesses. No e-signatures. No Zoom witnessing. No “click to execute”.
Execution rules in this area changed several times between 2020 and 2022 and may change again — anyone relying on an online will should confirm the current execution requirements applying in Queensland at the time they sign. But the practical position hasn’t moved: the digital part of your online will ends the moment you hit download. From there it’s paper, pen and two people present — same as it was for your grandparents.
What If a Will Only Exists Digitally?
Queensland does have a safety net. Under section 18 of the Succession Act, the Supreme Court can accept a document that fails the formal requirements as a valid will, if it’s satisfied the person intended it to be one — famously, the unsent text message in Re Nichol [3].
Don’t mistake the safety net for a plan. A section 18 application means a Supreme Court proceeding: evidence, lawyers, months of delay and a genuinely uncertain outcome, all paid for out of your estate and all landing on your grieving family. The power exists to rescue accidents, not to validate shortcuts. If your “will” lives only in an app, a PDF or a cloud account, you don’t have a will — you have a future court application.
Our guide to oral wills and informal wills in Queensland covers the dispensing power in more detail, and if a disputed informal document is already on the table in your family, see contesting a will in Queensland.
How Online Will Services Work
Most Australian platforms follow the same pattern:
- You answer a structured questionnaire — assets, family, who gets what, who’ll be executor.
- Software assembles your answers into a will built from pre-written standard clauses.
- You pay, download and print, then follow the signing instructions.
- Some platforms add extras: storage of a scanned copy, update subscriptions, or a “review” — the depth of which varies enormously and is usually not personal legal advice.
To be fair to the technology, it does one thing genuinely well: it produces a clean, professional-looking document quickly. The problems live elsewhere.
What Are the Risks of an Online Will?
Execution errors — the silent killer
Nobody from the platform is in the room when you sign. A beneficiary acting as witness. Witnesses signing at different times. A missed signature. These mistakes are invisible to you, and they surface at the worst possible moment: after your death, when nothing can be fixed cheaply. A solicitor-supervised signing removes this entire category of risk.
The questionnaire only knows what you type into it
Software cannot notice that your “simple” estate includes superannuation that won’t pass under the will at all, a family trust the will can’t touch, jointly owned property that bypasses the estate, or a family member with a strong potential family provision claim. A lawyer’s real value was never the typing — it’s spotting the issues you didn’t know were issues.
One-size-fits-most clauses
Platform wills are assembled from standard wording designed for the majority. Families are full of edge cases, and edge cases squeezed into standard clauses produce ambiguity — the raw material of a future will dispute.
No record of capacity or free will
A solicitor taking instructions is quietly assessing testamentary capacity and watching for pressure, and the solicitor’s file becomes powerful evidence if the will is ever challenged. An app records nothing. For older will-makers, anyone in poor health, or anyone whose will is going to disappoint somebody, that missing evidence can decide whether the will survives.
Data security and platform longevity
You’re handing a commercial platform your assets, your family structure, sometimes your health details. Reputable services take security seriously, but breaches happen in every industry — and if the platform folds in ten years, where does that leave your stored will and your update subscription?
Storage confusion
Some services market a stored scan as safekeeping. A scan is not the will. Your executor generally needs the signed original for probate; if only a copy can be found, your family may face a court application just to prove it. Tell your executor where the original lives.
When Is an Online Will Enough?
Honest answer: sometimes. If your affairs are genuinely simple and you execute the document with care, an online will can do the job — and it is dramatically better than no will at all, which hands the outcome to Queensland’s intestacy formula.
| Your Situation | Online Will Suitable? |
|---|---|
| Modest assets, first marriage, everything to your spouse then children equally | Possibly — if signed and witnessed with care |
| Blended family, or children from a previous relationship | No — get advice |
| Leaving someone out, or treating children unequally | No — high challenge risk |
| You own a business, farm or company shares | No |
| A family trust or SMSF is in the picture | No |
| Significant superannuation or life insurance | Get advice — these often pass outside the will |
| A vulnerable beneficiary (disability, addiction, bankruptcy or relationship risk) | No — protective structures needed |
| Anyone might question your capacity or suggest pressure | No — solicitor evidence is critical |
| Assets or family overseas | No |
The trap is that people are poor judges of whether their own situation is “simple”. The things that complicate estates — blended families, super, trusts, jointly held property — are precisely the things online questionnaires handle worst.
Are Online Wills Cheaper in the End?
Upfront, obviously. A platform will costs a fraction of a solicitor-drafted one.
The full accounting is less flattering. The savings sit at the front; the costs, if they come, arrive at the back — a section 18 application to rescue a defective signing, a construction application to untangle an ambiguous clause, or a full validity fight (see our guide to what a will dispute involves in Queensland) with no solicitor’s file to defend the will. Any one of those will consume the price difference many times over, paid from the estate your beneficiaries were meant to receive. The online price tag buys a document. It does not buy advice, and it does not buy evidence.
Practical Tips
- If you use an online service, follow the signing instructions to the letter: wet ink, two witnesses, both present at the same time.
- Never let a beneficiary — or a beneficiary’s spouse — act as a witness.
- Tell your executor exactly where the signed original is kept. The platform’s scan won’t get probate.
- Review the will after every major life event. Marriage generally revokes a will; divorce changes its effect.
- Don’t guess whether your situation is “simple”. Run it against the table above — honestly.
- If anything in the “No” rows applies to you, the few hundred dollars saved online is the most expensive saving you’ll ever make.
- If you’re unsure whether your situation is simple or complex, that uncertainty itself is usually a sign that legal advice is worthwhile.
Online Wills vs Lawyer-Drafted Wills
A quick side-by-side, because this is usually the real question behind “are online wills valid”:
| Online Will | Lawyer-Drafted Will |
|---|---|
| Lower upfront cost | Higher upfront cost |
| Questionnaire-based | Personal advice on your actual circumstances |
| Suitable for simple circumstances | Suitable for simple and complex circumstances |
| Unsupervised signing | Solicitor-supervised execution |
| No solicitor file | Solicitor records may assist if the will is challenged |
Neither column is “right” for everyone. The online option exists because plenty of estates genuinely are simple; the lawyer option exists because plenty of estates only look simple. If your circumstances fall anywhere between “obviously simple” and “obviously complex”, obtaining advice before signing can be far cheaper than fixing problems after death. We explore this comparison in more detail in our guide: Online Wills vs Lawyer-Drafted Wills: A QLD Comparison.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are online wills legal in Queensland?
Yes — provided the generated document is printed, then signed and witnessed in strict compliance with the Succession Act 1981 (Qld). The online origin doesn’t affect validity; the execution does.
Can I sign my will electronically in Queensland?
Not at the time of writing. Queensland generally requires wills to be signed in wet ink with two witnesses physically present; the temporary COVID video-witnessing rules for wills were not made permanent. Always confirm the current execution requirements before signing.
Is a will stored in an app or cloud account valid?
Not on its own. A purely digital document fails the formal requirements and would need a Supreme Court application under section 18 to be recognised — expensive, slow and uncertain.
Can an online will be challenged?
Any will can be challenged. Online wills are more exposed in practice, because there’s no solicitor’s file recording the will-maker’s capacity, intentions and freedom from pressure.
Do online platforms store my will?
Some store a scanned copy. The scan is convenient but it is not the will — your executor generally needs the signed paper original for probate.
Is an online will better than no will?
Yes, clearly — dying without any valid will means Queensland’s intestacy rules decide who inherits, with no regard for your wishes.
Does my superannuation go through my online will?
Often it doesn’t go through any will. Super death benefits are paid by your fund’s trustee, guided by your nomination forms — one of the most common things online questionnaires fail to flag. See our superannuation death benefits guide.
Related Queensland Estate Resources
Making a Will
- How to Make a Legally Valid Will in Queensland
- Queensland Will Templates: Pros, Cons, and When to Consult a Lawyer
- Who Can Witness a Will in Queensland?
- Oral Wills and Informal Wills in Queensland
If Something Goes Wrong
Assets Outside the Will
- Superannuation Death Benefit Nominations
- Inheritance Law in Queensland Explained (coming soon)
Queensland Inheritance Law
Key Take-Aways
- Online wills can be valid in Queensland — validity turns entirely on correct paper execution, not on the technology.
- Queensland still requires wet ink signatures with two witnesses physically present; e-signing and video witnessing are not available for wills.
- A will that exists only digitally needs a Supreme Court application under section 18 — a rescue mechanism, not a plan.
- The biggest risks: unsupervised signing errors, and the issues the questionnaire never asked about.
- Online wills suit genuinely simple estates only. Blended families, businesses, trusts and significant super need tailored advice.
- The signed paper original — not the platform’s stored copy — is the legal will. Make sure your executor knows where it is.
Sources / References
[1] Succession Act 1981 (Qld), s 10 — how a will must be executed.[2] Justice and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2021 (Qld); Queensland Law Society, Remote Witnessing and Electronic Signatures guidance — wills excluded from the permanent remote-witnessing and electronic-signature reforms.
[3] Succession Act 1981 (Qld), s 18 — court may dispense with execution requirements; Re Nichol; Nichol v Nichol [2017] QSC 220.