What would happen if you didn't realise there was a will?

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so, hypothetical situation. just wondering really

if your parent died and you didn't know they had a will - what would happen? if you went through intestacy because you thought there wasn't a will, and then... 2 years later you discover the will - what would have to happen? anything?

https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=92c4482b-1c90-4678-b6f1-68902d10bb0f

I often wonder about this and also how anyone knows for sure that there isn't a later will.

This happened to my DM when her DB died. Apparently he died intestate (he'd left verbal instructions to my DM) so she applied for letters of administration and dealt with the estate (no property and he was unmarried with no DC).
Estate split between his two remaining siblings.
Two years later, a neighbour finds a will lodged with a solicitor naming her and a charity as beneficiaries. DM had to recoup as many assets as remained and hand them to the solicitor for correct disbursement.
It was incredibly stressful and caused a massive fallout between DM and her DSIS.
Moral of the story - make a will, make sure someone knows where it is and don't take on the executor/administrator role unless you've contacted every solicitor in the area to check if they're holding a will.