You arrived at this page by selecting:Where is that Will? (12/11/09)
I heard in my postbag about someone who died recently, young and unexpectedly. He has apparently left umpteen million pounds in his estate, so a lot of people might be anxious as to what happens next where his fortune is concerned. His will should sort this out, but they can't find it. There was talk that it was in the hands of some solicitor or other but no-one seems to know which. I now believe the family may give up the hunt, perhaps suspecting that there wasn't a will after all.
These are the difficulties surrounding wills. It's important that when your time is up your nearest and dearest have a copy of your will or at least know where it is. We often get people coming to us in terrible distress because they have no idea where their recently departed's will is. They are frantically ringing up every solicitor in the area trying to find out where it is stored. It makes a difficult time more difficult for the relatives who are left behind trying to cope with a bereavement.
Some people say there should be a central registry of wills in this country to alleviate these problems. It sounds a good idea for the lawyers, they will always know what to do, but what about those people who have drawn up their own will? Would they know that they need to have it registered? If it is not registered it would be invalid and their wishes would be ignored. But if registration is not compulsory there would be no point having it.
If there is no will to be found then ultimately what are called the rules of intestacy are applied to decide who gets what from your estate, which may not at all be what you would want.
My advice is to carry your solicitor's business card in your wallet/purse with a note to say 'my will is stored here'. Should anything happen to you the likelihood is that your wallet/purse will be found on your person.
Also, don't forget to ask your solicitor for extra copies of your will when you have it drawn up. You can then distribute these to your nearest and dearest so at least they know what your last wishes are and where the will is stored.
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