Strange estate question?

tafer2uk

This may sound a daft question, but how does a solicitor know when somebody has died to execute a will?

And if nobody does, would the state automatically then deal with the estate?

dzug1

He doesn't - someone has to instruct him

Not automatically, no. Someone has to tell them - and they need a reason. For example those who have an interest in the estate, such as people who are owed money, would have first chance.

getmore4less

tafer2uk wrote: »

This may sound a daft question, but how does a solicitor know when somebody has died to execute a will?

And if nobody does, would the state automatically then deal with the estate?

The only a legal requirement is to register a death within 5 days.
(no idea how they invoke penaties if this does not happen)

Unless someone picks up the estate I guess it ends up on Bona Vacantia list and anyones guess if they end up finding the will, probably asumed intestate by then.

this is one for madbadrob

getmore4less

dzug1 wrote: »

He doesn't - someone has to instruct him

Not automatically, no. Someone has to tell them - and they need a reason. For example those who have an interest in the estate, such as people who are owed money, would have first chance.

Or just notify of the death if they(solicitor) is executors

madbadrob

The first thing as an heir hunter we do is attempt to find a will after all if there is one extant and we pass out the money to the descendents it is us who are liable however with no central registry of wills this is not always possible. Not to many years ago Somerset House used to hold all wills as a depositry but I havent heard of this being used anymore.
When a person dies and those who knew the deceased cant say where relatives are etc the local council is duty bound to try and locate heirs. How stringently they do this is open to question. The Treasury Solicitors are also supposed to make enquiries into whether there are any surviving heirs but again I doubt they do any more than the local authority who pass the estate onto them.
If as a heir hunter I can get a claim in for an intestate estate before a house is sold we get the opportunity to search that property to the end of inventoring the contents and this also provides us with the chance to look through old letters etc. If we find any from solicitors I will always contact them to see if a will is in existence however whether others do I have no idea. That said one episode of Heir Hunters saw the Fraser brothers hard work go down the pan when they found a heir who held the will of the deceased. How solicitors find out when there are no relatives close by or anyone who knew there was a will is beyond me and maybe Kore could give a better view from that end

Rob

Errata

Not to many years ago Somerset House used to hold all wills as a depositry but I havent heard of this being used anymore.

If you mean wills that had gone through probate, the Probate Office keeps original wills as they then become public documents which anyone can apply for a copy of.
Wills can be stored by the willmaker for safekeeping with the Probate Registry http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/probate/depositing-documents-for-safe-keeping

madbadrob

Errata wrote: »

If you mean wills that had gone through probate, the Probate Office keeps original wills as they then become public documents which anyone can apply for a copy of.
Wills can be stored by the willmaker for safekeeping with the Probate Registry http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/probate/depositing-documents-for-safe-keeping

No I didnt mean that at all. A number of years ago you could lodge a will with Somerset house for a small fee. They would then on death pass the will to relatives of the deceased. It was a central repositry as such but I have not heard of this occurring any longer. It was used a lot by solicitors etc

Personally I think that we in this country should have a repository for wills and that on death where no family members are living nearby the local council could then make an enquiry to check before passing the case over to the Treasury Solicitor

Rob

Errata

I have not heard of this occurring any longer.

I suggest you click on the link I posted.

tafer2uk

Thank you for all your replies, it does make you wonder how often people end up with money they aren't entitled to due to there being no obligation to inform solicitors etc.

madbadrob

Errata wrote: »

I suggest you click on the link I posted.

Ahhh thx for that. Nice to see it is still going

Rob