Photocopied will

Mae66

My aunt died earlier this month, leaving an estate of about £220,000, and the only will found is a photocopy, which names myself and two other unrelated people as the joint executors and beneficiaries. We haven't been able to locate the original.

Under intestacy, the estate would pass to my aunt's sister (my mother), which would be fine by me, but obviously not to the other two potential beneficiaries.

Any suggestions on how I should proceed? Does a photocopied will stand any chance of being accepted for probate in these circumstances?

I'm dreading having to get involved in a long and expensive legal dispute.

Mae

FreeBear

Was the will drafted by a solicitor ?

If so, it is quite possible that they have the original filed away in their vaults.

Yorkshireman99

If the original cannot be found then it may be possible to obtain probate though it will be slow and costly. Alternatively there is no legal bar to your mother executing a deed of variation to distribute the estate after letters of administration to give effect to the photocopied will.

Keep_pedalling

Yorkshireman99 wrote: »

If the original cannot be found then it may be possible to obtain probate though it will be slow and costly. Alternatively there is no legal bar to your mother executing a deed of variation to distribute the estate after letters of administration to give effect to the photocopied will.

Yes, a copy can be used providing that anyone (your mother in this case) who would have otherwise have inherited under intestacy rules does not object to it, although a DoV is probably an easier solution.

http://www.tmsolicitors.co.uk/probate-problems/what-happens-when-the-original-will-is-lost/

You should however do everything possible to locate the original.

Biggles

Trying to read between the lines, I'm wondering if the OP's mother doesn't want to locate the original and is wondering if the two unrelated beneficiaries would be able to enforce it based on the copy?

Robin9

Is the copy you have signed and witnessed ?

The original is probably with the solicitor.

Mae66

We've contacted everyone we can think of to find the original, and don't know why only a photocopy was retained. The will was properly witnessed. It could have been drafted by a solicitor, but it's a very simple will, so more likely it's just been adapted from a common template document. My mother would understandably prefer the intestacy rules to apply.

Mae

Keep_pedalling

Mae66 wrote: »

My mother would understandably prefer the intestacy rules to apply.

Which would make using the photocopy very difficult, but she should be prepaired for a potentially expensive legal battle if she puts her own greed ahead of her sisters wishes.

Biggles

Mae66 wrote: »

We've contacted everyone we can think of to find the original, and don't know why only a photocopy was retained. The will was properly witnessed. It could have been drafted by a solicitor, but it's a very simple will, so more likely it's just been adapted from a common template document.

Did your aunt have a local solicitor that she had used, say, last time she bought a house? Have you tried the probate office, who will store wills for you?

Keep_pedalling wrote: »

Which would make using the photocopy very difficult, but she should be prepaired for a potentially expensive legal battle if she puts her own greed ahead of her sisters wishes.

It's not her sisters' wishes that matter so much as the fact that we don't know how old the will is, and whether the aunt may have changed her mind since making it.

Unless it were very recent, it may well be that intestacy would rule despite any legal challenge?

Keep_pedalling

Why would it need to be very recent? People who change their mind usually make new wills, in this case there is strong evidence of what the OPs aunt wanted, but his mother's opportunism stinks.

chesky

It's quite common to keep a photocopy of ones will at home whilst leaving the original with the solicitor for safe-keeping (fire, burglary, opportunists trying to destroy it, etc). I've done this myself but my son and daughter know who the solicitor is. It also gives the opportunity for the solicitor to offer their assistance and advice (for a fee of course).