And the lost Will saga continues...

poppystar

The solicitor lost the Will as in previous post.

I followed all the Probate lost Will instructions and submitted the application in August, with completed PA13 and affidavit from solicitor as instructed.

Despite following the instructions to the letter the application was passed on to Birmingham, who knew not what to do with it so it got sidelined until I did the first post eight week check. They found it and sent it to Manchester where it then joined the back of a queue it should have joined at least nine weeks before.

It then took four months to get to the front of the queue at which point it was “escalated to the Registrar” ie. joined the back of another queue. At that point I was getting hopeful..will I never learn?! 

So today I find out it is in Winchester!! (It has done more travelling, albeit virtually, than most people in lockdown)  I then get an email asking me to sign an affidavit stating that there were no previous Wills. This despite the fact that the PA13 clearly states there was, ditto the solicitor’s affidavit, ditto my covering letter and the enclosed copy of the previous Will!!

Back to square one as it has joined yet another queue to find out what they can do as I have refused to sign an untrue affidavit...arevthey just hoping I’ll eventually give lose my own will and give up?

xylophone

arevthey just hoping I’ll eventually give lose my own will and give up?

to live?

have a heart - just think what a tangled web you'll leave for your executor.....

But this really is very poor service and I think that a formal complaint would be perfectly justified.

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-courts-and-tribunals-service/about/complaints-procedure#:~:text=The quickest way to get,explain anything that is unclear.

Did you succeed in the sale of the property? https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6234547/second-transferor/p2

poppystar

xylophone said:

arevthey just hoping I’ll eventually give lose my own will and give up?

to live?

have a heart - just think what a tangled web you'll leave for your executor.....

But this really is very poor service and I think that a formal complaint would be perfectly justified.

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-courts-and-tribunals-service/about/complaints-procedure#:~:text=The quickest way to get,explain anything that is unclear.

Did you succeed in the sale of the property? https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6234547/second-transferor/p2

I truly can’t imagine that the complaints process will be any more efficient than the probate process - but I am getting to close to that point! Thanks for link.

Yes and no on the sale. Conveyancer finally accepted that a friend could be the second transferor and all the paperwork duly signed....then two steps down in the chain decided on a divorce that appears to be anything but amicable and they suddenly threw another house into the chain (his and hers now!) with its own chain so the paperwork is just waiting. 

poppystar

Thanks to the sterling efforts of a really wonderful and efficient human at Winchester probate office my grant has now been approved and I should have the paperwork in my hands soon.

Phew! Is it wrong to be so deliriously happy about something that should just have been a fairly straightforward bureaucratic exercise?! 

parcival

I would open a bottle of Prosecco and a big bag of crisps and enjoy the relief!

xylophone

I would open a bottle of Prosecco and a big bag of crisps and enjoy the relief!

Do we all get to share as a reward for supporting the OP through the ordeal?