Is it possible to hand deliver to the probate office?

happywalrus

I've looked online and tried phoning them, but all indications are that the only option for submitting paperwork is to send it to Harlow. Is there anywhere you can deliver the paperwork by hand? When my Dad died 9 years ago this was possible, I appreciate that times might have changed since then. 

If it's by post only is there any advantage to using a service like DX over Royal Mail Special Delivery?

Thanks in advance. 

p00hsticks

I don't believe it is possible to deliver in person any more. I don't know about DX, but I used Royal Mail Special Delivery and avoided posting it on a Friday so that the next day was a working day, and that worked fine - I could track it's progress and see it had been delivered the next day.

I also took a scan of the will before sending it so that I did have a copy if the worst happened and it did get lost - make sure you donlt remove any staples or other fastenings holding te pages together if you do the same.

SiliconChip

p00hsticks said:

I also took a scan of the will before sending it so that I did have a copy if the worst happened and it did get lost - make sure you donlt remove any staples or other fastenings holding te pages together if you do the same.

While a scanned copy is useful for your own reference what you really need to do before posting the original is to have a certified copy made in case any other organisation wishes to see the Will - although after probate is granted it's unlikely that anyone official will want to see it as the Grant of Probate takes over as the key document.

I had a copy of my mum's Will certified by the solicitors who drew it up at no cost but I noted on here recently that the Post Office do it at a reasonable cost.

https://www.postoffice.co.uk/identity/document-certification

p00hsticks

SiliconChip said:

p00hsticks said:

I also took a scan of the will before sending it so that I did have a copy if the worst happened and it did get lost - make sure you donlt remove any staples or other fastenings holding te pages together if you do the same.

While a scanned copy is useful for your own reference what you really need to do before posting the original is to have a certified copy made in case any other organisation wishes to see the Will - although after probate is granted it's unlikely that anyone official will want to see it as the Grant of Probate takes over as the key document.

I had a copy of my mum's Will certified by the solicitors who drew it up at no cost but I noted on here recently that the Post Office do it at a reasonable cost.

https://www.postoffice.co.uk/identity/document-certification

Once probate has been granted the will is a matter of public record and any one who wants to see it after that can pay £1.50 to order themselves a copy

SiliconChip

p00hsticks said:

SiliconChip said:

p00hsticks said:

I also took a scan of the will before sending it so that I did have a copy if the worst happened and it did get lost - make sure you donlt remove any staples or other fastenings holding te pages together if you do the same.

While a scanned copy is useful for your own reference what you really need to do before posting the original is to have a certified copy made in case any other organisation wishes to see the Will - although after probate is granted it's unlikely that anyone official will want to see it as the Grant of Probate takes over as the key document.

I had a copy of my mum's Will certified by the solicitors who drew it up at no cost but I noted on here recently that the Post Office do it at a reasonable cost.

https://www.postoffice.co.uk/identity/document-certification

Once probate has been granted the will is a matter of public record and any one who wants to see it after that can pay £1.50 to order themselves a copy

While this is true I can't imagine any organisation being prepared to pay it, but it's unlikely to be an issue because, as I said, it's the Grant of Probate that they'll want to see once it's available. The certified copy is most likely to be useful before applying for probate (the one time I had to use mine) or possibly between application and grant if it's a drawn out probate - not an issue for the one I did as it was granted 5 days after the Will was posted, including a weekend.

Savvy_Sue

I seem to remember that even when I was able to hand-deliver to the local probate office, that was to the security chap at the front desk with several other 'offices' in the building. 

I accept that that meant I knew Royal Mail hadn't lost it, but it wasn't guaranteed delivery to the Probate office ...