• March 28, 2024
 Public Will Search Finds Hit 45% Record High in January & February 2018

Public Will Search Finds Hit 45% Record High in January & February 2018

In January and February 2018, Certainty Will Searches undertaken by members of the public have produced some interesting results that are worth noting.

Certainty Will Searches instigated directly by the public (rather than through their solicitor) resulted in 45% of the searches finding a Will.

The Certainty Will Search team took feedback from 100 members of the public who had undertaken a Certainty Will Search to understand their reasons for searching:

  1. a) 29% believed a Will did not exist and that the estate was intestate but as a PR wanted to safeguard their position by searching
  2. b) 24% held a Will but as an Executor wanted to ensure that a later Will did not exist and appear after they had distributed the estate
  3. c) 4% were trying to discover if a Will existed because they felt the estate should not have been treated as intestate or the Will used to obtain the grant of probate was not the last Will

In the case of a) this equated to 29 individuals searching for a Will that they did not think existed. The Certainty Will Search found 11 Wills for PRs who say they were adamant that a Will had not been written.

In the case of b) this equated to 24 individual searches by Executors who believed they held the last Will, and had undertaken a search purely as a precautionary and comfort measure. 6 later Wills were found.

In the case of c) one searcher states that they believed a revoked Will had been used that prevented them from receiving certain possessions from the deceased that held sentimental value for them.

A number of these statistics provide real food for thought for a solicitor distributing an estate who may not be aware that a family member, friend, executor or personal representative may have their own beliefs surrounding a Will, the last Will and who the real beneficiaries are.

Potentially unbeknown to a solicitor distributing an estate or who has already distributed an estate, people known to the deceased will undertake their own investigations if they feel something is untoward or want protection from an unknown Will coming forward after distribution. In nearly 50% of Certainty Will Searches these public searchers discovered an unknown Will.

Other reasons the search was undertaken included;

  • 19% knew a Will had been written and existed but did not know where it was
  • 12% were unhappy, believing that the Will being used to distribute the estate had been superseded by a new Will and that there was an attempt to distribute the estate and avoid identifying beneficiaries named in the later Will
  • 6% were advised to go online and search by their legal adviser
  • 3% were looking for a Will to understand if it contained funeral wishes
  • 3% were not a blood relative of the deceased but felt the executor/administrator distributing the estate was not adhering to the wishes their deceased ‘friend’ had discussed

Emma-Louise Green, Contentious Probate Solicitor, The Wilkes Partnership, comments: “It is important to consider whether you need to take any enhanced steps to check that the Will that you have been presented with is indeed the last Will. Undertaking a Certainty Will Search can shed some light on this. Sometimes, family members may suspect something to be the case but cannot confirm because the testator is no longer with us to verify questions surrounding their Will. Using Certainty can help to demonstrate that an action was taken to check the factual situation that is being presented to a solicitor, executor or wider family member. It can potentially reduce the possibility of a dispute taking place through a Will coming to light during or after estate distribution. Searches are called for in many legal activities to provide a safeguard or to try to discover unknown information. A Certainty Will Search is no different. The results of the survey demonstrate the usefulness of carrying out such a search no matter how well you thought you knew your client or the executors or personal representatives.”

For further information on the types of searches you can carry out please contact us on 0330 100 3660 or email enquiries@certainty.co.uk.

This article was submitted to be published by Certainty as part of their advertising agreement with Today’s Wills and Probate. The views expressed in this article are those of the submitter and not those of Today’s Wills and Probate.

The National Will Register

http://www.certainty.co.uk/

Certainty the National Will Register is the UK’s provider of a National Will Register and Will Search service. Certainty Will Search and Will Registration is exclusively endorsed by the Law Society, recommended by key organisations and used by thousands of solicitors, the public, charities and financial institutions to register Wills and search for Wills. At peak times, one Will is registered every two seconds on The National Will Register. The confidential contents of the Will are not disclosed, only the existence and location of where the Will is stored is recorded, ensuring that it can be found quickly and easily once the Testator has passed on. Registration ensures that if beneficiaries and executors are unaware if a Will was written or have forgotten where it’s located, it can be easily found by conducting a Register Will Search. The existence of a Will and its location are confidential. Only when the Testator has passed away can a Will’s location be declared. Even then, it will be disclosed only when the person searching for the Will has a genuine, bona fide interest and that person can provide a copy of a death certificate. Certainty Will Search not only searches for registered Wills but also nationally for Wills that have not been registered to help prevent an old Will being used to distribute the estate or when the existence of a Will is unknown. In addition, Certainty the National Will Register provides an online Will management tool for solicitors, which can be accessed remotely from anywhere with a secure internet connection so they can safely register Wills, search for Wills and use additional services Certainty the National Will Register provides for professionals. For more information, please contact us on 0330 100 3660 or email enquiries@certainty.co.uk. Address The Chapel Chapel Lane Lapworth Warwickshire B94 6EU