Unsigned /undated will

[Motnight]

Hi all. My dh is executor for a family friend's will. We have an unsigned, incomplete dated 2013 will. We have also found a signed and dated 1989 will.

Dh has done all the searches he can to find a signed and dated copy of the 2013 will. Everything is coming up blank.

Our understanding is that dh should consider the 1989 will as the valid one. However a family member is fighting this.

Who is right? Does dh need to pay for legal advice around this?

Many thanks

Has he done a certainty will search? Any idea which solicitors would have prepared the will? If he’s tried everything and can’t locate it, it may be a draft that was never signed. he can proceed using the 1989 will.

An unsigned will isn't worth the paper it's printed on. The 1989 one would be the valid one. However it would be worth it to get some legal advice if family members are kicking off already.

@kerosene20

Has he done a certainty will search? Any idea which solicitors would have prepared the will? If he’s tried everything and can’t locate it, it may be a draft that was never signed. he can proceed using the 1989 will.

Thanks keresene20, we'd completely forgotten about the certainty will search, we were going to do that and then found the signed will. Sounds like that will be the best way forwards.

The solicitors who prepared the first will have long gone, but they had passed on their wills to another firm which is how we found it.

An unsigned or unwitnessed will is not valid. Ask the family member querying for evidence that the later draft was witnessed & signed.

It has to be signed dated and witnessed by two people. Signed by the person making the will in the presence of two witnesses and
signed by the two witnesses, in the presence of the person making the will, after it has been signed.

If the1989 will is all that, and there os no other to be found superceeding it then it is the valid one..

Anyone could have drawn up that will. No signature, no date it has no legal weight.

It might be worth seeking legal advise if the estate is large enough to pay for it to ensure there can't be any legal challenges.

Otherwise the original signed and dated will is the only valid one.

The likelihood is that it is a copy and there is a signed will somewhere, probably stored in a solicitors somewhere. The trick is finding out where.

Perhaps start by emailing local solicitors to ask?

Thanks for all the replies. We are going to do one last search for the updated but unsigned will as kerosene20 and others have suggested and take it from there.