Finding a will (no probate)

WeAreGhosts

How do you find a will if there's no probate?

I know my elderly relative made a will. I know who the executor is, but have no ways of contacting them. Elderly, not on Facebook, 192.com etc. No one knows where she is living.
I have tried all solicitors in areas my relative lived but to no avail. Have also tried the funeral director, but some records have been lost.

Is there any other way?

74jax

For what reason do you want to see it?

When did your relative die? Surely they can't have lost anything recent. I understand them not giving info to you, but could you ask them to pass something on?

Do you know executors family etc, it seems odd a relative picked someone no one knew if there was family....

tacpot12

You need to find the executor. Only the executor can see the will between your relative dying and probate being granted. A private detective might be able to find the executor if you have a name and know somewhere they lived.

If you know your relative has died, and have grounds to contest the will, you might be able to contest the will even before he executor applied for probate by applying to the High Court. You probably need legal advice from a solicitor if you want to take this approach.

WeAreGhosts

I have reason to believe the executor may not have handled the will as they should have done. There's no money involved - but sentimental possessions may not have been distributed as they should. Even if I find the executor, they probably will deny everything, which is why I was searching for the solicitor.

Robin9

Even if you find the solicitor they will not talk to you - you are not the client - that's the executor / estate.

WeAreGhosts

Robin9 wrote: »

Even if you find the solicitor they will not talk to you - you are not the client - that's the executor / estate.

But they will speak to me if I am a beneficiary of the will. I have past experience, unfortunately!

MovingForwards

What's to say the possessions were still with her and not already given away or lost?

For an estate with no money, or other assets of value, it's highly doubtful a solicitor would be involved, more unlikely that probate has been applied for.

How often did you see the relative before death? If you know where they lived do a land registry search and see who owns the property is council or housing association etc. The council / HA may have just cleared the place if no one was listed as point of contact or the POC died.

What's to say s/he even made a will? Perhaps it was just a conversation about leaving items to people and thinking that was enough?

Your best bet to locate the executor is to do a 192.com search, see if she is listed in the area, Google her name and the area, also do the same with your relative and add deceased to your search eg Joe blogs area deceased or Joe blogs city deceased.

Often older people do the formalities of placing an advert in the local paper to announce the death, so you may get lucky in finding out the church or funeral details.

Failing that you will need to pay for an enquiry agent / tracing agent and that's £200+ depending on how many searches and what they have to do to find the person.

Maybe the executor died before your relative?

tacpot12

Finding the Will won't help you unless you already know where all the sentimental items have gone. Only the Will proves what the testator intended to happen. You will need to show that what the will said is what is different to what actually happened.

I'm pretty sure that finding the executor won't help you in this case if you are aggressive because I expect they will deny everything and will not show you the Will if doing so gives you the ammunition you need to cause them trouble. However, if you can find the executor and you play it very calm you may be allowed to see the Will.

For the reasons stated in the previous posts, only the executor can help you here and it is not really in their interests to do so, even if the eventual outcome is that you can rest easy in the knowledge that your relatives wishes were carried out correctly.

Marcon

WeAreGhosts wrote: »

I have reason to believe the executor may not have handled the will as they should have done. There's no money involved - but sentimental possessions may not have been distributed as they should. Even if I find the executor, they probably will deny everything, which is why I was searching for the solicitor.

The solicitor won't help you if the executor 'denies everything' as you are suggesting. You say they'll talk to you because you are a beneficiary and that you know this from 'past experience', but as you don't know the solicitor involved (always assuming there was one involved in drawing up the will), you may find they stick to the rulebook rather more closely and decline to talk to anyone other than their client.

If the executor is elderly and perhaps not as on the ball as once they were, why not leave them in peace? The idea of using a private detective to try and prove what is no more than a hunch of your part (who knows if a new will was made - or if there was a valid will at the time your relative died) seems rather petty.

Dox

WeAreGhosts wrote: »

How do you find a will if there's no probate? Very unlikely that you can - sounds like real needle in haystack territory.

I know my elderly relative made a will. I know who the executor is, but have no ways of contacting them. Could be your relative made a later will and changed the executor. Elderly, not on Facebook, 192.com etc. No one knows where she is living. Maybe she isn't living any more, which could be why nobody knows where she is living.
I have tried all solicitors in areas my relative lived but to no avail. Have also tried the funeral director, but some records have been lost. Sounds like a 'convenient' loss to save them having to deal with what they probably see as badgering by a disappointed would-be beneficiary - there are strict limits on what information can be given out, whatever cause you are claiming you need the info for.

Is there any other way?

If there was no money in the estate, highly unlikely probate was required and the chances of getting hold of the will are close to zero. The elderly executor won't want to be pestered (as she will see it) if she believes she has done everything right, and is going to be even less keen to talk to you if she knows she hasn't.

Don't bash your head on a brick wall. All you'll do is give yourself a headache.