To ask about Wills?

[NoTeaForMe]

Just wondering if anyone can tell me when an executor of a Will will see and know what is stated in a Will? How long after the person has died will people know what (if anything) is left to them?
TIA

I think the executors see a will pretty quickly in my experience, a matter of days. Was under a week with my FIL's will.

Goodness, it depends where is the will? Lost in a house or with a solicitor or in a safe? It would be helpful for the executor to know!
Usually the person sadly dies, then the executor gets the will and starts to execute it.

Sorry, I understand my message seemed heartless. It really isn’t. It’s obviously always sad that someone has died but in this case it’s a very elderly lady who outlived her husband and had no children/close family. She also had a couple of things that I’m keen to know go to the right person (not me!!) Just wondering when we will know really. We know the executor so will find out as they do but just wondering when that’s likely to be.

when my aunt died in April, it took a month or so to get the will because it was in a lawyer's office and the lawyers were all working from home due to covid. when my uncle died, it took 2 days because I went to his house, opened the safe & found the will to pass it on to the executors.

What jurisdiction is this in?

I know someone who died and the will was lost in their house for ages. Almost like a hoarder. Some people think they have writer one but havant.. Etc.

You can search the government wills and probate registry with just the deceased's name and year or death and if the Will is registered you can order a copy for £1.50

Definitely a will written in the last couple of years. After the husband died, the executor was then appointed and Will re-made. So done in the last few years. I would imagine either safe in the house or with the solicitor/lawyer.
Does the executor physically see the Will or does the solicitor actually do a reading?

Actually sorry I'm not sure if that will registry is available to all in the UK

@NoTeaForMe

Very rare for a reading - that's for the movies! Generally if the Will is held with a solicitor or accountant once they receive notification of the death (usually they need to see the death certificate) they will write to the executor (assuming it's not them) with a copy of the will (and often a quote to do the work in my experience). If the Will is in the house you just find it and pass it to the executor. If probate is required, nothing happens re distribution until it's granted

Not relevant in your circumstances OP but both my executors have a copy of my Will, along with all my siblings and the friends who would be DC's appointed guardians.

If you want to know what was in a will as pp have said (in England at least) you can get a copy for a minimal cost from the registry. We did similar recently because we had been told our children had been left a small legacy and we heard nothing so my MIL requested the will and chased it up. It was just a case of confused identity and a slightly lazy solicitor so it was useful to the bereaved family, nothing nefarious

This will vary depending on whether you are in Scotland, England, or another legal jurisdiction.

The will is available from the probate office Website but not until after probate has been issued. This follows the work done by the executor / solicitor to complete probate so can be a year plus after the actual death depending how complicated the estate is.

So whilst this is very useful as PP have commented it is useful for the OP if the person has only just died and the estate hasn’t gone through probate yet.

DSis and I were joint executors of our DM’s will and had been informed by the will holding company that DM had lodged the document with them. After her death we had to send a copy of the death certificate to them and they got in touch for some ID for ourselves and then sent us a copy of the will by post. We received it about 10 days after she died as we had already arranged the funeral before seeing what she had written in it about the matter (and what we planned didn’t quite marry up with what she wrote).

It’s quite unusual for there to be a formal reading of the will - that’s normally just for films and tv!!

Thank you all. We’re in England, sorry I probably should have stated that in the OP.

It’s a recent death, in the last couple of weeks. I am expecting to hear in the next few weeks when I know the executor will meet the solicitor. Just wondering if I was being unreasonable that we’d know by then. Seems I’m not. Fingers crossed the right people get the right things.