Can any legal minds help me out with a question re: access to wills?

[MarthaMedicine]

I just would like to know if it is possible to get hold of a copy of the will belonging to a relative who died a few years ago?

He was my great uncle, and having had no children of his own everything was left to his wife.

He did once mention that he would be putting a clause in the will stating that his house was to then come to me, after his wife had lived out her days there.

I did try hard to keep in touch with his wife after he died, but she never responded.

I have now discovered that she died over a year ago, and I have no idea what happened to the house.

Can anyone point me in the right direction as to how I go about investigating this?

Any help much appreciated.

I would contact the Probate Service.

Contact probate. However it may be that he had no legal right to do this. It may be that his wife for example was legally entitled to/owned half the house or whatever. However it is best checking out. If he even left half to you after her lifetime you could be entitled to some of the proceeds of the sale.

see here, it explains the process

My understanding is that it would fall to the wife after his death. It then becomes entirely her property and she could do with it what she wanted.

I think it would depend on whether they owned the house as joint tenants or tenants in common. Typically spuses own property as joint tenants, which means that upon death the entire house reverts to the owndership of the survivor. With tenants on common each half of the house is treated seperately, so it is possible for a spouse to inherit the other half of her house in trust, to pass to whoever upon the surviving spouse's death. However it is unusual for married couples to own a house as tenants in common.