Getting copies of wills

[CMSdividend]

I think that I was left something in my nan's Will. Just a hunch but I'd like to check. She died after my grandad. I've got a copy of her will as it went to probate. It literally says "mirror of "grandad Will"" and no details in the Will at all. Grandad's Will never went to probate as nan was joint in everything. The solicitor went bust during Covid and returned all documents to their owners. I'm not on speaking terms with the executor who would hold the copy so is there another way I can get a copy?

You can order a copy of the probate plus the will on the .gov.U.K. Website. Is that what you’ve done already?

Yes, nan's Will is on the search and I've got a copy. It's my grandad's I need and it never went to probate because it was all left to her and they jointly owned everything.

You can get copies of deceased wills online (even when everything has passed to a living spouse). I've downloaded a few for different family members. It costs a few pounds IIRC.

@PoshWatchShitShoes If it's not on the probatesearch.service.gov website where would it be?

@CMSdividend I found an estranged grandparent's will online after they'd died. They were survived by the other grandparent. Not sure how probate works though. Also it could just take a long time to upload (sometimes house sales nearby take an age to go online)

My Nan died nearly 10 years ago. All this has come about because of a comment from another relative. The executor of nan/grandad Will was also the executor of another relatives will, I've downloaded that one and it's in his handwriting where it states everything should be left to him, signed by a couple of neighbours. He'd only got back in contact with that relative 6 months before as he heard she was ill...... So I think he has form for fraudulent type activities that are hard to prove.

It it was a mirror Will your grandads will be exactly the same as your nans. If he left everything to her and she survived him, the rest of the Will doesn’t apply.

That's the first time i've read/heard of a will actually using the phrase "mirror of X's will". Normally both wills are written out in full, just using exactly the same phrases.

It's worth spending £1.50 for a manual search for the will and probate for your Grandad, in case it's missing from the onine (beta) search engine for some reason. I'm doing that just now, as I believe my father's estate should have gone to probate but isn't listed on the website.

I’d contact the probate services and ask for this directly. I’d suggest that they have got something wrong if they approved probate on the basis of something that said “mirror of x’s will” without seeing x’s will.

Your Grandad’s will will probably will not be on public record if he left his half of everything jointly owned to your Nan and there was no tax to pay. That would have been sufficient to show banks etc. to put everything in your Nan’s sole name.

A copy of his will should have been submitted when applying for probate on your Nan’s estate, if only to provide evidence in order to claim your Grandad’s inheritance tax allowance (therefore doubling your Nan’s tax allowance) to make the estate exempt from any taxes.

You may never be able to see your Grandad’s will as it wasn’t required by the probate office.