Will loved ones find a Will after your death?

So you have made a Will, now what? Importantly where are you going to keep it? But more than that will it be found after your death? For many people their Will is an extremely private document which they do not want to disclose details about even to close friends and family. This can mean that the whereabouts of your Will may not come to light after your death. It is also all too easy for a Will to be lost or thrown away or destroyed ( on purpose or by accident). Registering the details of your Will with Willfinda means that after your death an interested person such as an executor or beneficiary can contact us and we will then pass on to the Executor(s) the details you have given us. The Executor(s) can then begin the Probate process. As a Will deals with the whole of your Estate it is probably the most important document you have.

At Willfinda we understand there may come a time when you will want to make alterations to your Will. Or you move and the location of your Will changes. Amending your registered details is as quick and easy as registering your Will. If you need to make amendments after registration just contact us through the Contact Page. We will email you to arrange to take down the details. It only costs £4.99!

Simple! Just fill in the online form and our team of database searchers will do the rest. We will carry out a thorough search of our National Wills Register database and get back to you in no time at all. If we can’t locate the Will on our database we will contact Solicitors both in the county of the last known address of the Deceased and in neighbouring counties to see if we can locate the Will on your behalf. In heavily populated areas the search can be to over 500 different Law firms.

For online Will searches please see – How do I find a Will online?

If the Will is not located on our database then our team of researchers have built a very extensive list of professional contacts that we will contact to see if any details of the Wills location can be found. This service is included as part of your search fee! In some instances we contact over 500 Law firms on behalf of a client in the search process, so our Find a Will service is well worth the money. We do regret there is no guarantee with the WillFinda service. If we are unable to find a will you may need to consider missing Will insurance before dealing with an estate.

To comply with Probate Rules and Data Protection Legislation it is only possible to search the database of a person in order to find a Will online after they have died and if you have a legitimate reason for doing so such as you have an honest belief that you may be a beneficiary under the Will or an Executor. We reserve the right to ask to see a copy of the death certificate.

A declaration (almost always in writing apart from very exceptional circumstances) setting out who will administer your estate (the executor(s)) and who is to inherit your money and other assets. It can include your wishes like whether you want to be buried or cremated. Making a Will can these days be done in many different ways including the wide range of online will services available.

This is old fashioned language simply meaning what we today mean is a Will.

A legal document that amends a Will.

The person(s) who has/have been set out in someone’s Will to act as Executor. Their role broadly is to collect in the assets of the deceased person, pay off liabilities and then to distribute the estate in accordance with the Will. This role is often carried out by a Solicitor.

Yes, they can and are often appointed as such.

If someone leaves no Will or an invalid one, then someone needs to sort out the deceased person’s financial affairs and that person is described as the “Administrator(s)”.

This is the assets that they have such as house, car, caravan, cash etc. and any income received after death less liabilities such as tax, bills etc.

Yes, two people need to do this. The legal requirements as to how a Will has to be witnessed are strict. It is best to take legal advice on this subject rather than risking the Will being invalid because the correct formalities have not taken place.

Yes. But, apart from in a few exceptional circumstances, the Will must comply with the formalities as set out in Section 9 of the Wills Act 1837 as amended by Section 9 of the Administration of Justice Act 1982. Please note a Will does not need to be in legal language! However, whilst a Will may be valid in respect of the formalities such as that it is in writing it can be declared invalid because, say, the person making the Will (the Testator) lacked mental capacity. It is because of these complexities we always recommend people take legal advice before making a Will.

If your estate is reasonably large (that is the net estate is over £250,000) then the Intestacy Rules set out that the surviving spouse will not inherit everything. But remember taking account of escalating house prices there are a great many people who have an estate over this sum who would not in anyway consider themselves to be rich. And anyway it will make the whole process easier and you can set out your wishes such as whether you want to be buried or cremated.So yes in almost all cases it is sensible to make a Will. Also your finances may change over time.

Please head over to our How to Write a Will page to find out more about writing your very own will. Sometimes refereed to DIY Wills.

These days there are lots of different avenues available from buying a simple form from a bookshop, using Will writing services online to the traditional route of using a Solicitor. For certainty that everything is right and bearing in mind that Solicitors have to have insurance to cover mistakes we always suggest that if a person’s financial affairs are at all complicated they use a solicitor.

If someone dies without making a Will there is a set of rules laid down by Parliament that set out which family members get what.

A Deed of Variation enables a beneficiary of a deceased’s estate to change the way an estate is distributed. A beneficiary can only vary their own share in a deceased’s estate and when applying to property, a beneficiary can only vary property which they have an interest in.

A Living Will is a written document that sets out your wishes, concerning your health care and how you want to be treated, should you no longer be able to take such decisions due to serious illness or incapacity.

If you are named as an executor in a Will then you may need to apply for a Grant of Probate. A Grant of Probate is an official document obtained from the Probate Registry that allows an executor to distribute the deceased’s estate.

It is certainly not obligatory. If the terms of the Will are simple and the size of the estate is small then often there is no need. However, for larger estates where there is tax to be paid and the terms of the Will are complex then it may in the long run save you a great deal of time, effort and possibly expense to employ a Professional Probate Firm to help you. It is also worthwhile remembering that any firm you employ to assist you must have insurance to deal with mistakes they make. Browse our Partner Listings for our recommendations for Professional Probate Firms.

So what happens to Estates where there isn’t a Will and next of kin can’t be found? The money and assets in the Estate pass to the Crown. Hardly the result that most of us would want for our Estate; however small! More details can be found on the Treasury Solicitor’s Bona Vacantia (literally meaning vacant or empty goods) website. See www.bonavacantia.gov.uk.

The Medallion Guarantee is a special stamp that needs to be affixed to a stock transfer form before a share registrar will facilitate the transfer or sale of shares held on the American stocks exchanges such as the Nasdaq. When applying the Medallion Guarantee the provider of the stamp takes on the risk that the transaction is not fraudulent in its nature. They are providing a signature guarantee stating that the person that signed the transfer or stock is legally entitled to do so.