Original Will lost in post! 6 December 2022 at 1:33PM in Deaths, funerals & probate 13 replies 920 views

Beano456

Any help on what happens when the original Will sent to probate gets lost in the post?

I completed Probate online and the requested original Will posted 25/11/22 by RM Special Delivery Guaranteed 1pm. I'm aware of the strikes going on and delays but after nearly 2 weeks I contacted RM, they say that due to the length of time since posting it will now be considered lost unfortunately. Great! What the heck happens now? 

p00hsticks

I'd contact the Probate Office to get them to confirm that they've not received it and ask the question.

I suspect the answer may depend on whether you (or the solicitor who drew it up)  have a copy of it and what form it takes.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/report-a-will-is-lost-to-support-a-probate-application

Beano456

p00hsticks said:

I'd contact the Probate Office to get them to confirm that they've not received it and ask the question.

I suspect the answer may depend on whether you (or the solicitor who drew it up)  have a copy of it and what form it takes.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/report-a-will-is-lost-to-support-a-probate-application

Thanks for the link, I'll give it a few more days in the hope it turns up before contact probate. Yes it was drawn up by a solicitor and we were sent a copy and original stored at solicitors office. When mum died I picked up the original from solicitors to send probate. The original was bounded in a plastic folder, hard to properly photocopy but I did take a photo of each page on my phone before posting.

msb1234

Does the will reflect what would happen to your mums estate if no will actually existed, ie if she died intestate? 

Beano456

msb1234 said:

Does the will reflect what would happen to your mums estate if no will actually existed, ie if she died intestate? 

Mum & dad did mirror wills leaving everything to the other if one died first. Or if both go it's split equally between the 3 children.

msb1234

So if your dad is still alive he would get everything anyway, and if not, her estate would be split between her children. So the worst case scenario would be if the will doesn’t show up, you'd apply for letters of administration and the outcome would be the same anyway. 
Have you actually done a trace of the item? Mine showed it had been delivered within 3 days of posting, but the Probate Office didnt acknowledge receipt of it for 5 weeks.

Beano456

The last tracking entry says it's due to leave North Midlands MC to go to Chelmsford MC, That's not changed since 28 Nov. According to RM it's now considered lost but given the chaos they're in I'll give it a bit longer.

Yes it's a straightforward Will so shouldn't change any outcome even if there wasn't one, it's just so frustrating that you do everything correct your side and then have to rely on numptys in the postal system to screw things up. The court form posted previously regarding lost Wills seems fairly straightforward so I'll try that if the Will is lost. We need probate as she has over the 5k premium bonds and money in bank in her own sole account not the joint. 

p00hsticks

msb1234 said:

So if your dad is still alive he would get everything anyway

To be pedantic, that assumes that her estate is worth less than £270, 000.

Under the England and Wales intestacy rules, the spouse gets all personal posessions and the first £270,000 of the estate, and anything above that is shared between the spouse, who gets half, with the remaining half divided between any children.

On-the-coast

The last tracking entry says it's due to leave North Midlands MC to go to Chelmsford MC, That's not changed since 28 Nov. According to RM it's now considered lost but given the chaos they're in I'll give it a bit longer.

I had similar tracking problems with a passport a few months ago using the same service.  Hopefully you'll have got some standard compensation from RM by now as it's officially lost.
In my case, a few days after diagnosis of lost status the passport turned up at the passport office.  My speculation is that it sat in an intray/inbox at its destination for several weeks before passport office acknowledged its presence, and as it was a bulk delivery to a PO box the tracking receipt never got updated.  Hopefully something similar happens for you - but i know it's going to be stressful...  Good luck!

TBagpuss

If the will is lost then you may stuill be able to apply for probate with a copy - you'll probably need to provide a statement setting out what has happened to the original and it will delay things. If you only have photograpghs rathre than a photocopy it may be worth askiong the solciitros if they retianed a claerer copy, they may have done so.

Beano456

TBagpuss said:

If the will is lost then you may stuill be able to apply for probate with a copy - you'll probably need to provide a statement setting out what has happened to the original and it will delay things. If you only have photograpghs rathre than a photocopy it may be worth askiong the solciitros if they retianed a claerer copy, they may have done so.

Yes I've just spoke to probate just to check if they did receive it despite the tracking not updated since 28 Nov. No they haven't received it. Got to complete the lost will form and send all the evidence with a copy of will. They said it will go to the registrar who should ok it if it's straightforward. The will was prepared by a solicitor so luckily we've got invoices & confirmation letter that the original will was placed in the solicitors strongroom for safekeeping and they did provide a copy for our own records. So I've got a good clear copy that matches the pics of the original I took on phone. I'll send all that with the special delivery certificate & correspondence from RM saying it's now considered lost. Think I'll use DHL to post it.