Cant find will - what happens next?

[sambro]

My sons partner was told by her grandmother thst she had made a will leaving half her estate to her and the other half to her mother. Her mother was also told this and was very angry. It seems she wanted it all. The grandmother has died recently and the daughter says she has gone through all her papers and cannot find a will. She is a nasty person ( she abandoned my sons partner when she was very young and the grandmother raised her) and we suspect that she may very well have found it, and because she is not happy with it, she is keeping quiet about it or has destroyed it. My sons partner does not know which solicitor her grandmother used. Is there anything she can do? Or will her mother get everything?

[Sir Alec]

Solicitor's normally keep copies of wills. I'm afraid you may have to contact a few to find out which one she had. If you have her date of birth/relevant certificates, it shouldn't be too much hard work. Her solicitor will be glad to help.

[Drisgirl]

O that is a tricky one -for selfish reasons thtathas made me want to copy my will and leave it in random places.
Mine is lodged with the solicitor and I have a copy in my personal files.

I think -but would have to check -that under Scottish Law anuyway -the will has to be lodged somewhere -apart from the solicitors -if I can find out where I will let you know then you can contact them directly.

[Eve]

Could she have left it with the bank in a safety deposit box or similar?

Is there someone she would have been likely to have made an executor, like a family solicitor or accountant (if there was a business or pensions involved) or closest family member who may know?

Did your grandfather have a will, it's possible they had it done by the same law firm who may have them both.

If your grandfather is not still around, could they have appointed the same executor? If you have a copy of the probate then it should say on there and may well be a law firm or a person who witnessed the will and may know where it might be.

You can get a copy of a will from the Probate office.

http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/c ivil/probate/index.htm

They also may be able to give you some further advice.

Depending on where you live it is more common for the older generation to have had a family law firm, for conveyancing, wills etc..., do you have an idea who they would have used?

Did they own their house and can you find out which solicitors were used for that as they may have been involved in making wills as it was common to do them at the same time.

Could you write to local law firms asking them to check their records and ask for a follow up confirmation whether or not they have it. A will is a deed and has to be stored in fireproof storage and there should be records of them being held which should be straightforward to check.

Hope these ideas help, if I think of anything else I'm come back to you.

[sambro]

Thank you for that Drisgirl. We live in Engalnd but it would make sense for there to be a register of wills. Does anyone know if there is such a thing?.

[Drisgirl]

Jenna -have to say that was a really clued up answer and its not even my thread x

Wills are lodged with a probate(?) -so it will be available for ANYONE to see -cant get the link but phoned my solicitor -theres dedication for ya !!!! (well I wanted to know for me as well -have to say !)

[Eve]

Aww :) Yes the will would go for probate...but...you need the will to get probate :(

If no will can be found then the estate would go through intestacy laws (letters of administration rather than probate) and distributed accordingly.

[Ethel]

Telephone the Record Keeper's Dept at The High Court on 020 7947 6948 to see if there is a record of the will being lodged with The Probate Registry.

Telephone local solicitors.

Many wills are not lodged anywhere, and are simply kept at home. If that is the case and it has been destroyed, the rules of intestacy will apply.

http://www.youngandpearce.co.uk/intestrules.ht m

[Ethel]

For anybody interested, wills can be lodged for a moderate fee at the High Court via the Probate Registry

http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/1218.ht m

[sambro]

Thanks everyone - Jenna especially. I have told my sons partner about the probate registry. It is worth a try. I dont know how her mother sleeps at night. Having met her for the first time at the funeral last week, I have changed my mind about feeling sorry for my sons partner that she was left with her grandmother whilst her mother went off and had a good time. I think she did her a favour. She is a lovely girl, so unlike her mother.

[bednobs]

please dont forget that you only have your daughterinlaws word for al of this. Even if the grandma DID say that she may have done something different or even nothing at all. It is not necassarily evi intent by the mother.
dont forget you only get one side of the story.
Plus, although money is nice, you sons partner was brought up by this woman under difficult circumstance and was loved by her and that is worth more than money

[dzug]

Wills are not normally lodged anywhere until they get submitted for probate - they CAN be, but it's extremely rare for it to happen.

What you can do is alert the local Probate Office that you want to be contacted if a will is presented for probate (or Letters of Administration applied for, which is what happens if there is no will). If the latter happens then tell them your suspicions. If the mother persists, there's not much they can do, but they will give her a hard time and it will be abundantly clear to her that she is lying under oath - if indeed she is. People often never get around to making the will they say they have made.

[Eve]

Even if the original will has gone amiss it's not to say that there aren't copies of it anywhere.

[Barmaid]

Firstly you need to do what has been said above and try local solicitors. It may WELL be worth instructing a local solicitor to do this for you - although it will cost, local solicitors have a good relationship with each other generally and it is much easier for them to pick up the phone and get straight through to a colleague than it is for you (shouldn't be, I know, but that's just the way it is). You could try advertising in the local paper/Law Society Gazette, but in reality this hardly ever works.

Second if you wish to be notified that a Grant has been issued, enter a standing search with the Probate Registry. In order to buy yourself some time though, you could lodge a caveat which will prevent any grant being issued to anyone for a period of 6 months, unless it is warned off. You can lodge a caveat by obtaining a form from the Probate Registry and completing it.

If you are successful in finding an original Will at a firm of solicitors that is all you need. If you find a copy the following is important. IF the original Will was left with the deceased (quite unusual, most people have a copy Will and the original is filed in a solictors' safe) and cannot be found on death then it is a rebuttable presumption that the will was revoked by the testator. At this point, evidence of conversations that your son's partner had with her grandmother and when etc will become important in order to rebut the presumption. If you get to this stage, you definitely need legal assistance.