Bequeathed partners with Prolifics to develop innovative AI Will writing service using IBM watsonx technology
Bequeathed is on a mission to ensure that everyone has a plan for the end of their life, protecting their legacy and supporting the people they leave behind. Bequeathed’s online service allows anyone to create a basic Will for free, or connect with an expert to access personalized paid support. Working with charities, the company also encourages people to leave legacy donations to causes that they care about, and has generated £100 million in pledges so far.
Bequeathed has developed an expert system with a complex logic engine designed to offer the same robust legal advice and protections that a person would receive from an in-person visit to a law firm. Yet, in gathering the required information, the questionnaire could feel slow and repetitive to users.
“Many online Will providers offer a slick user experience, but they don’t give the legal advice that people need,” begins Jonathan Brewer, the Founder of Bequeathed. “We believe it is important to ensure that consumers receive legal advice, because there may be things they didn’t consider that will impact their beneficiaries. Our role has always been to remove the barriers to making a Will; we realized that we needed to make the experience even more accessible while maintaining the sophistication behind our system.”
At the same time, as part of its growth strategy, Bequeathed saw the opportunity to expand its system into a software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering for law firms.
“We have seen a big shift in consumer behavior in recent years—around 20% of people in the UK now intend to make their next Will online,” explains Brewer. “But often, law firms are very cautious about adopting new technologies. We wanted to help Solicitors come to where the consumers are, which is online.”
Bequeathed reached out to its trusted technology partner Prolifics, who had developed and maintained the original online system, to initiate the transformation project to deliver the new offering, called MyIntent. Prolifics, an IBM Platinum Partner, proposed a solution built with the IBM® watsonx.ai® AI development studio. The IBM solution is designed to meet the strict regulatory requirements of the legal industry with embedded guardrails and transparent technology.
“We already had a proven system, developed with inputs from 50,000 registered users reviewed by lawyers over the course of eight years,” comments Brewer. “It was important to us not to lose confidence in the accuracy of the underlying decision-making process; IBM watsonx provided us with the assurance that we would have full control over the AI model.”
Working closely together over the course of three months, Prolifics helped Bequeathed integrate watsonx.ai technology into its platform to deliver MyIntent, adding an AI chatbot and a responsive, intuitive interface. The platform is hosted on a UK-based instance of Amazon Web Services (AWS), supporting high performance and scalability while keeping compliance and security at the heart of the project.
“Prolifics always understand our business case and who our customers and users are,” says Brewer. “When you’re engaging with new technologies, it is important to have that level of trust with your provider to reduce risk.”
By integrating watsonx.ai into MyIntent, Bequeathed can confidently meet the growing demand for online Will writing services, while maintaining a personalized approach. Consumers can use natural, colloquial language to quickly and easily convey relevant information to a chatbot. This has reduced the number of questions asked of the user on average by 30%, increasing the propensity to complete the online Will interview.
In parallel, adopting AI technology supports the scalability and cost-effectiveness of delivering Will writing services, as experienced by Bequeathed’s own in-house legal team. Using the MyIntent system to gather instructions, draft documents, and onboard the client enables each Solicitor to serve 624 new private clients per year, more than double what is achievable using traditional legal methods.
“Using IBM watsonx technology, a Solicitor can provide the same high-quality experience and advice online that a prospective client would get from walking into their office,” concludes Brewer. “We can’t wait to see how we can expand our use of AI—for example, to improve conversion to Will trusts and Lasting Powers of Attorney.”
Founded in 2017, Bequeathed works with its partners from the charity, legal, and funeral sectors to provide online Will writing services and encourage people to leave gifts to charity in their Will. Offering guidance, helpful tools, and legal advice through its online service MyIntent, Bequeathed enables people to plan for their future and cope with the death of someone close to them.
With over 45 years of experience, Prolifics is a digital engineering and consulting firm that helps its clients navigate and accelerate their digital transformation journey. Specializing in AI, business automation, cybersecurity, and more, Prolifics stays at the forefront of digital innovation to help businesses unlock their full potential.
Legal
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2026
IBM, the IBM logo, and watsonx.ai are trademarks of IBM Corp., registered in many jurisdictions worldwide.
Examples presented as illustrative only. Actual results will vary based on client configurations and conditions and, therefore, generally expected results cannot be provided.