Will or no will?

theshoefairy

My mother passed away in October. Since then I have been trying to get everything organised and in order. She was always adamant she had made a will and that she was safe in the knowledge that everything will be coming to me, which is why she worked so hard for it.

Well I found the will. It was made with Barclays through her additions account. Everything in the will was fine until I reached the end, and it wasn't signed. I have been trying to conatct Barclays to see if they hold the signed copy but it is like pulling teeth and I need to apply for probate, but I cannot do this until I find out if there IS a will or there isn't.

I cannot believe that she would have gone to the trouble to make a will and then not bother to get it signed. She wasn't a stupid woman.

Can anyone recommend any ways to find out if there is a signed copy somewhere?

madbadrob

Sorry for your loss. There is no way to find out if there is a signed will anywhere unless your mother sent it to the repository held at Holborn. If this is an old will the chances are it wont be there.

Out of interest are you an only child? I am assuming your father has passed away or is divorced from your mum.

If you are the only child then the will is not important as everything comes to you under the laws of intestacy anyway

Rob

dzug1

If you get no joy with Barclays (I would suspect they do hold the original even if they can't currently find it) then apply for Letters of Administration as if there were no will. As part of the process you should be asked what steps you have taken to find a will - you can produce the unsigned copy then.

If Barclays confess to having lost the signed copy it is possible the Probate Office will accept the copy.

dancingfairy

It *may* not matter whether it is valid or not. It depends on who will inherit under the intestacy rules. If you inherited under intestacy wills you could either apply for a variation to give money to people/organisations as your mother would have wised or you could just give it to them anyway.
Hope you get it sorted.
df

theshoefairy

Thanks everyone.

I will proceed with prob as if there is no will. Her and my father were divorced. She had a partner for 18 years who lived with us but they were not married and I am an only child.

Thanks for all of the advice

madbadrob

theshoefairy wrote: »

Thanks everyone.

I will proceed with prob as if there is no will. Her and my father were divorced. She had a partner for 18 years who lived with us but they were not married and I am an only child.

Thanks for all of the advice

Just as a side note its not probate if you proceed that way its called administration and yes as they are not married he unfortunately gets nothing however he could make a claim if you intend to sell the house

Rob

theshoefairy

Ah, is that a different form? It's a hell of a long story, but a month after she died I was forced to ask him to leave as I knew there was no way I could continue living her with him. Definitely not unfortunate that they were not married.

Thanks

CaptainAmerica

Barclays only hold wills in their Willsafe service in which they are appointed as executor in some capacity

If they are not appointed they do not offer the Willsafe storage service.

Customers can still store wills but it would be through their Barclaysafe storage facility, which any bank customer can use for a monthly charge of approx £3 or £4. It is mainly used for other securities like property deeds etc but wills are kept too. If your mum had a monthly DD going to Barclaysafe showing on her bank statement then she has a wallet at Barclaysafe, which you can recall via your local branch.

What year was the will prepared? If it was around 2007 or later then it would have been Irwin Mitchell solicitors who prepared the will on behalf of Barclays, as that's when Barclays outsourced their will preparation service. I would contact them at their Sheffield office as they also have a will storage service. Their tel number is 0870 902 5315

The telephone number for the Barclays willsafe service is 0207 965 7871. They will be able to check over the phone but like I say they only hold bank appointed wills.


Does the will that you have got a clear plastic front and a blue or red card back with a black spine down the left side?


If so then that is the original will prepared through the additions account and all that the bank would have would be unsigned draft copies. Once the draft will is approved by the customer, the actual will is then prepared and sent to customer for execution, the bank do not check that the will has been signed if it's not going to be held by them, that ultimately is the responsibility of the customer, although they do send out formal instructions on how to have it executed properly.

Hope that helps

madbadrob

The shoe fairy I believe you fill in the exact same forms that you would if there was a will I believe. Have never had to fill in for probate myself just for letters so am not 100% certain. Ring your local probate office up and they will tell you if this is the case

Rob

dzug1

It's the same form - you just answer one or two of the questions differently.

madbadrob

dzug1 wrote: »

It's the same form - you just answer one or two of the questions differently.

Thx Dzug that was what I thought but wanted to be sure that the OP knew I may have been wrong

Rob