Wills - where are they registered.

[braingriffin]

If you write a will with a solicitor who keeps it and who gets copies? Is there anyway of finding a will.

[KirstyJC]

Shamelessly marking place as we want to know this too - the company that we got to do ours has gone bust and we don't have a copy.

DH wrote to the FSA Register to get company details but the contact number they gave was the same as we already had, but had no answer.

[Mendi]

There is no register for wills in England. Normally the solicitor keeps a copy and you keep a copy. If you don't have a copy and the firm of solicitors is no longer in business then time to make a new will! Would recommend keeping a copy and also storing a copy somewhere safe and letting your close relatives know where it is. Bank safety deposit?

[LittlePushka]

Solicitor will ask you at the time if you want the original or whether you require them to retain it. to release a will each firm has different policy but in my practice I would release in person to a client I personally knew, otherwise I would require a request in writing with a signature I could compare to the will. If collecting in person I would also request appropriate ID. If the testator has died i would release a will to named executors in person only and upon production of appropriate ID (unless I knew the executors personally)and an original death certificate,

Are you looking for your will or the will of someone else, living or deceased? If you are trying to locate your a missing will likely to have been made by a solicitor in your locality the best initial enquiry is a letter to each firm. They will search their database/strongroom for details free of charge and respond free of charge.

In my experience this is a more effective way of obtaining accurate information. National will registers that claim to search for you charge a fee for doing exactly the same thing and if a firm fails to reply to their request there is no follow up or chase - so you cannot be certain that all avenues have been covered.

[braingriffin]

Thank you

[mumblechum1]

This is why, as a will writer, I always recommend to my clients that they send their will for storage at the Probate Office's storage service. It is much cheaper than commercial storage services (£20 as a one-off fee, rather than an annual fee), and they aren't going to go bust.

I also advise my clients to let their executors know in writing where the original is stored, and where a copy is kept in the house.

[digerd]

Germany is sooo well organised . When a solicitor makes a Will, a copy must be sent to the local area court which keeps all copies of Wills. When a person dies, the solicitor has to notify the courts. The latter send out copies to all the legal inheritors whether mentioned in the Will or not.
No danger of the Will getting lost or destroyed.