Farewill

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Top tips for staying safe online

Our tips for keeping your information secure, your data safe, and your password protected.

Charity spotlight… with Jon Jacques, the Fundraising Proposition Lead (legacies), for Save the Children UK

We spoke to Save the Children (UK)’s Jon Jacques about how charities can respond to the cost of living crisis and the three golden rules for a successful fundraising campaign.

Funerals and the financial crisis

As the cost of living continues to rise, our research shows costly funerals are placing an unnecessary financial burden on many, with some mourners being pushed into debt. Direct cremations offer a more personal, affordable alternative.

The Year in Wills Report 2021: The year funerals got personal

As the pandemic made its way into 2021, we saw how another year of uncertainty had an impact on the thousands of wills written with us. We’ve put together our annual report, which looks at some of the biggest trends in will writing we’ve seen this year.

Wills can continue to be witnessed via Zoom until 2024

As of 12 Jan 2022, wills can continue to be witnessed via Zoom in England and Wales. This will help people who are isolating either with covid or if they are vulnerable and have to stay at home to avoid social contact.

Creating a Platform function

We’ve started a new area of the business: Platform. Its purpose is to support and enable our product teams and other parts of the business, and I thought I’d share a bit about creating it.

3 opportunities to grow legacy giving for your university

In 2020, Farewill users pledged £2.3m in gifts to universities in their wills. Using our expertise in donor behaviour, alongside partners like King's College London, we want to help grow these gifts. 

5 Questions ...with Fay Ganney, Charity Partnerships Manager at Farewill

Welcome to our latest blog series! 5 Questions will introduce diverse voices across the legacy world, gathering pearls of wisdom and insights along the way. First off, we grabbed a chat with Farewill's very own Fay Ganney.

Mid-year circuit breaker at Farewill

We’ve had a pretty remarkable 18 months here at Farewill. We’ve launched new products including Funerals and Lasting Powers of Attorney, grown our team from 60 to 140 people, increased our revenue 600%, and raised our Series B.

We are proud to work with 200 partners!

As we are reaching a milestone, our 200th partnership, we took a moment to celebrate the amazing journey we have been on over the last few years with our charity partners.

How we made personas to help us empathise with customers

Personas are a tool to help product teams make customer-centred decisions. We wanted ours to be useful, relevant and unbiased – and in the process of creating them we learned a few lessons and broke a few ‘rules’. Here’s how we went about it.

New accessibility questions in collaboration with Alzheimer’s Research UK

Farewill and Alzheimer's Research UK launched a partnership in November 2020 to make both online and telephone will writing more accessible to wider audiences.

Being remembered your way - how to choose an urn that reflects who you are

Life is full of colour and vibrancy. But we rarely talk about how that vibrancy of our lives can be reflected in our final resting place.

Introducing Farewill's Engineering Progression Framework

Towards the end of 2020 we wrapped up the first version of our Engineering Progression Framework. Now we’ve been using it internally for a little while, we also wanted to share it more widely, to help others learn more about Engineering at Farewill.

The Year In Wills Report 2020: How COVID-19 made us all face our mortality

Last year saw a huge rise in people writing wills from home. After checking tens of thousands of wills last year, we can now reveal the biggest trends of 2020. And you can also download our full report for tips on making your will.

What it’s really like to deal with death during the pandemic

We spoke to 1,000 people who have lost someone to coronavirus to understand more about the challenges they've faced.

4 steps to prepare your charity for the Great Wealth Transfer

Jake Edwards, Partnerships Manager at Farewill, has run successful legacy fundraising campaigns with Macmillan Cancer Support, Save The Children and Stonewall. Here, he offers expert tips on getting your charity match-fit for the Great Wealth Transfer.

Church of England to launch ‘Google for graves’ within 5 years

The Church of England is working with Historic England to map millions of grave sites across the country, allowing people to search for their lost loved ones and trace their family history in seconds.

UK legacy income to hit £3.9bn in 5 years

Economists predict that total legacy income will rise from £3.2bn in 2019 to £3.9bn by 2024, creating a huge opportunity for charities in the UK.

Amanda Clarke: “Making a will became a priority following the unexpected death of my ex-husband”

In the UK, over 30 million people are at risk of dying without a will. Here, we see the tragic consequences of leaving your loved ones unprotected.

Listen: Dan Garrett discussing the rising cost of funerals on BBC Radio 4

Our CEO, Dan Garrett, joined Dharshini David on BBC Radio 4’s The Today Programme to talk about the rising cost of funerals in the UK.

Rebranding death: How Farewill is using design to change the way the world deals with death

Anna Charity – illustrator, creative director and visual mastermind behind the revolutionary mindfulness app, Headspace – was brought in to lead the rebrand.

What is direct cremation and how do you arrange one?

If you’ve recently lost a loved one and have been looking into arranging a funeral, you may have seen the term ‘direct cremation’ online. Here, we’ll explain what it is, why it’s different to a traditional cremation and how you can arrange one.

We read thousands of wills in 2019. This is what we learned...

As the UK’s number one online will writing service, we helped more people write a will last year than anyone else in the UK. And that means we checked and approved more wills too. Here’s what we learned.

How to arrange a funeral

When it comes to arranging a funeral, most people start by looking for local funeral directors. But actually, you could create a far more personal memorial for a fraction of the cost with a simple, direct cremation.

3 reasons every parent needs a will

If you have children, you need a will to secure their future. Over the next few minutes, we’ll explain the 3 ways your will protects your family, and how you can get it done online in less than 15 minutes.

The perfect age to write your will

Your last will and testament – it’s not really something they teach you about at school, is it? Thankfully, we’re here to shed a little light on things so you know what it is, when to write it and how to get it done quickly.

How to make your will ‘legally binding’

Your will is the best place to set out what you want to happen to you, your loved ones and your money when you die. Here, we explain how to make sure your wishes are legally binding.

5 ways we’ve taken the stress out of writing a will

Over 30 million adults in the UK don’t have a will. And who can blame them? It’s complex, stressful and incredibly expensive. At least, that’s the way it used to be...

Where can I leave a gift to charity?

We go into how we first encountered legacy giving as well as how Farewill and charities can work together to help each other.

Guides

We’ve put all our expertise into these free guides to help you get to grips with everything to do with death.

How to arrange a funeral

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How to make a will

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How to apply for probate

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View all guides