What to do if you Can’t Find a Will

It can be terribly worrying if you have misplaced your Will, or if a loved one has passed away and you cannot locate their Will.  So, what should you do?

• Searching the home would be the first step.  Check any safe storage, filing cabinets or lockable drawers.
• Contact the bank.  Sometimes original Wills are stored with the bank together with property deeds.
• The next step would be to contact the Solicitor or Will writing service who drafted the Will.  The original Will may be in their archives, or they may hold a copy the executed document.
• National Wills Register.  If the Will is registered, the National Wills Register would hold information about the holders of the original Will.  Even if the Will is not registered, the National Wills Register may be able to assist your search, they offer a tracing service and would approach firms on your behalf to try and track down the missing Will. 

What happens when avenues have been exhausted?

If the missing Will is your own, the best course of action would be to contact a Solicitor and put a new Will in place.

When a loved one has already passed away, there are two possible courses of action, depending on whether a copy of the Will is available:

When there is a copy of the Will, you can still apply for a Grant of Representation.  It will be necessary to swear an Affidavit accounting for the lack of original Will but a Grant can still be obtained and the wishes of the Testator adhered to.

When there is no copy Will, unfortunately there is no option but to administer the estate under the terms of intestacy, which could sadly mean that the deceased’s wishes cannot be adhered to.

It is incredibly important to keep your Will up to date and kept in a safe place.  Should you need any assistance in relation to making a new Will our friendly team would be happy to help.