Locating a will after someone with no family dies suddenly

[locomotive98]

My remaining family and friends are all older than me, meaning that there is the possibility that I'll be living solo with no close social network in my later years. Add to that a family history of dying suddenly due to heart problems, and I find myself worrying about what happens in this situation. I have had a will drafted and appointed a firm of solicitors as my executors, but what happens if my will isn't found? I have a printed copy in my house, but there's no guarantee that it will be found, and it won't necessarily be obvious who my solicitor is or whether I have made a will at all (although I keep the firm's name and number in my purse). I'm just wondering what others do in this situation to ensure that their affairs are dealt with promptly and correctly when the time comes?

Can you leave all key info in a red folder in a v obvious place?

We recently made a new will, and we're advised that there is some kind of online filing of wills, so if friends/relatives of the deceased don't if they have a will, they can search by name.

You can register your will online but obviously people would have to know there is actually a will register in the first place.

I'm in a similar situation, and I have a big note stuck on my kitchen noticeboard saying approx "IN EVENT OF MY DEATH folder with solicitor's information and necessary contacts is in third drawer of bureau."

The folder is not in the same room as the public notice, to avoid curious friends, tradesfolk or delivery people having a good ol' nose then and there.

Thanks all. @TressiliansStone , I was considering something along those lines, although I've not done it so far as I don't want a constant reminder of my mortality in plain sight! Perhaps I will call it 'Emergency Info' or similar.

Regarding the online register, I don't think my solicitors are signed up to that. When I asked them about what to do they just said that the Police are very good at finding things in those circumstances and not to worry about it.

Your other option is to let the people or charity you’ve left your estate to know.

The best friend of my step-son’s late mum has let it be known to him/us that he is her beneficiary and who her solicitor is.

Thanks @YetMoreNewBeginnings , yes mine is all going to charity. I'm not sure how they would find out though, unless the solicitor were to inform them. Maybe I just need to make sure my Solicitor is my emergency contact and have that in my purse and pinned up somewhere, although I wouldn't want them called if I just fainted in the street, of course...

I might ask Age UK for advice and will update this thread if I pick up anything useful.

There is a registry of wills across legal firms don't worry. I've just dealt with dm estate and my solicitor told me all about it and was obliged to check it to ensure we were using the most up to date will.

Our copy wills are in our filing cabinet filed under 'Wills'. I'm pretty sure anyone who had to look for paperwork would find it. The solicitors' correspondence from when we did the wills is also there.

My father's will was lodged with the probate office and after a while, searches identified it's existence.
The odd thing was that (I thought) everyone in the family knew it was there so I never mentioned it, I was not aware that the solicitor was struggling to trace it and if asked, I could have told him.
We were just told there was a delay with probate but I think our solicitor was just covering his general lack of progress.

Our own wills are in our fire-safe at home, both executors have been told this and given specific information about it's location.

@locomotive98 There is a message in the fridge scheme. https://www.informationnow.org.uk/article/bottle-in-the-fridge-emergency-information-scheme/#

Essentially you have a sticker saying you have important info in the fridge. You can put anything in there but usually details of medicines, emergency contacts and there is no reason you can’t include the location of your will/name of solicitors as well as your life book and the password to your PC/electronic data etc.

The other thing you can complete is the AgeUK life book or make up your own https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/money-legal/end-of-life-planning/lifebook/

Ooh, that's good, @Propertylover . I shall see about getting one of those.

Thanks all. @Propertylover , that looks like a good idea. I have downloaded the AgeUK Life Book. Keeping things in the fridge in case of fire is also a good tip.

As regards electronic data, you can set up a Google account so that it will be deactivated at a certain point, and I think the same must be true for Microsoft. They will contact you if the account isn't active and you can choose the amount of time they will wait before deactivating. I don't want to keep the password to my PC in an obvious place. So much of our lives are on our devices these days, not all of which I would want anyone to have access to, so it's more about securing them, and making sure the information needed is available on paper.

@TressiliansStone its the sort of thing you get told about when you are 60+😂