Is it OK to ask solicitor to have a will back?

Abbey1991

I am helping a family member who has a will for which the solicitor is the executor. I believe that the will is stored with the solicitor as well.

Thanks to Martin's comments on this, she is thinking of re-writing the will using a different provider, and naming family members as executors.

Does she have to contact the solicitor and explain / ask for the will back? Will the solicitor charge for a penalty for no longer having the executor income?

Guest101

Abbey1991 wrote: »

I am helping a family member who has a will for which the solicitor is the executor. I believe that the will is stored with the solicitor as well.

Thanks to Martin's comments on this, she is thinking of re-writing the will using a different provider, and naming family members as executors.

Does she have to contact the solicitor and explain / ask for the will back? Will the solicitor charge for a penalty for no longer having the executor income?

Neither, if you are creating a new will, it will supercede the previous.


Once it's done simply let the solicitor know they can dispose of it.

Gavin83

Can you just update a will without having to completely rewrite it?

PeacefulWaters

Gavin83 wrote: »

Can you just update a will without having to completely rewrite it?

Yes. It's called a codicil.

Not always straight forward.

GrumpyDil

And to be quite honest whilst you can write a codicil I would always recommend writing a completely new will as it is likely to be easier to interpret and less likely to end up in arguments if there are multiple beneficiaries.

TBagpuss

The solicitor may charge an admin feeto provide the original will - many solicitors don't charge for storage but do make a charge to retrieve the will, as of course they have to check ID etc to ensure they are handing it over to the right person.

Your family member can simply make a new will, which automatically revokes and replaces the old one. It is sensible to get rid of the old will to avoid any confusion, but if she doesn't want to retrieve it she can simply notify the solicitor that she has made a new will and that the old one is no longer valid and that she no longer requires them to store it for her.