My wife and I need to do this also. I plan to do it myself with a free or low cost online form. For most people with an uncomplicated financial situation I see no problem doing it this way. The main thing is to record it at your county courthouse and keep copies where everyone involved can locate upon your death. By going the cheap and easy route it will be easy to amend if necessary in future.

My wife and I are both born in US. We have no children or any type of business. Both of us are retired.

DH and I did one recently, but also did a trust, so our assets won't need to go to probate when the time comes, and will avoid that headache for the kids. We did get it all done with an estate lawyer. It did cost us about $2000, but did give us peace of mind that things were put down correctly.

I’m a T&E lawyer, practicing in NY/FL. Generally speaking, a foreign will that’s validly executed under the laws of the foreign country are valid in the US, barring some unusual public policy exceptions including a complete disinheritance of a spouse. However I would not rely on this for your US assets as there is so much that could be missing. Does your UK will waive any and all requirements for your executor to post bond? If not your estate will be in for a rude awakening when it comes time to probate the will. Does it allow for ancillary probate proceedings in other jurisdictions? Does it take into consideration special rules regarding homestead properties in jurisdictions like Florida? Again, can cause issues depending on the jurisdiction.

I despise the online fill in the blank wills and trust forms. The few I’ve seen are awful and would easily lead to litigation if there were any discontent between heirs. And I don’t say this because it takes away business (only a tiny percentage of our revenue is from drafting wills). Look for a local attorney to draw it up. If you’re estate is straightforward then it shouldn’t be too expensive.

And as a previous poster mentioned- a trust is very useful. I typically draw one up as part of the estate planning to hold any inheritance that may be destined to q minor. It puts someone in charge that you trust and avoids unnecessary court approvals for distributions.

Ok I’ve waffled on enough.