As an Executor or Administrator you have the legal authority, responsibility and duty to distribute the deceased’s estate correctly and could be held financially responsible for any mistakes made through any breach of duty.
To help avoid issues arising later in the process of distributing an estate during probate, it is important to identify whether a Will exists and who holds the most up-to-date version before any work is undertaken.
To help confirm the existence of a Will or prove the Will you hold, National Will Safe recommend using The National Will Register to search nationally for registered and unregistered Wills.
As a legally endorsed and recognised best practice, The National Will Register Will Search offers great protection should a disgruntled beneficiary come forward after the estate has been distributed, and acts as proof that reasonable steps were taken to search for a Will or later Will before proceeding with distribution.
What Does a National Will Register Will Search Do?
The National Will Register searches for Wills – whether you are checking to see if one was made or checking to see if you have the most up-to-date version. It is more than just a register – they make it easy for you to search for a Will, even if it has not been registered. This is because they search for Wills kept by solicitors and Will Writers across the country, and search areas where the person who wrote the Will lived, worked or had other connections, hence the reason for making a Will elsewhere.
The National Wills Register searches not just the National Will Register, accessing circa 5 million Will registrations, but also searches nationally for Wills that have not been registered by solicitors and Will Writers. In addition, a notification is placed on the National Wills Register Missing Will Notice Board which is accessed daily by 4,500 member law firms.
The cost of the search is an allowable disbursement that can be reclaimed from the estate.
To search for a Will, see here