Copy Will - original will lost

LilyVla

My late husband and I made Mirror Wills in 2017. The solicitor who dealt with my Will gave us both two copies of the Will.

My husband died in January. I applied for Probate last month and sent one of the copies that I received. Probate asked for the original. I contacted the firm for us and was told today that the Wills and Probate solicitor had retired and he had written in his Attendance Note that he gave us the original Wills.

I'm in despair. How do I go about getting Probate to accept the copy?  I have an email from the firm sent to me today emphasising that they do not have the Will. What steps should I take with Probate? We were never given anything other than two copies of the Wills we made.

SkyyeBlue

Firstly sorry for your loss.

Have the solicitors actually looked in their vault to see if the will is there, or are they just going on the Attendance Note?

There is a PA13 form that you can complete to send to probate (we nearly had to use it as my Dad's will was stored in solicitors office that was closed by the SRA, fortunately it turned up in Coventry, having been originally stored in North Yorkshire!)

You have to show that you have attempted to locate/retrieve the original.

I don't know how successful the use of the PA13 is in practice, but it may be worth looking at.

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

JGB1955

Would your husband dying 'intestate' make any difference to the eventual outcome?

poppystar

SkyyeBlue said:

Firstly sorry for your loss.

Have the solicitors actually looked in their vault to see if the will is there, or are they just going on the Attendance Note?

There is a PA13 form that you can complete to send to probate (we nearly had to use it as my Dad's will was stored in solicitors office that was closed by the SRA, fortunately it turned up in Coventry, having been originally stored in North Yorkshire!)

You have to show that you have attempted to locate/retrieve the original.

I don't know how successful the use of the PA13 is in practice, but it may be worth looking at.

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

I used it successfully - eventually. 

LilyVla

It would make a difference because two of his estranged sons would be entitled to money via the intestacy rules. I really don't want them to be contacted as my late husband didn't want them to receive much 

Keep_pedalling

LilyVla said:

It would make a difference because two of his estranged sons would be entitled to money via the intestacy rules. I really don't want them to be contacted as my late husband didn't want them to receive much 

Do you have the original paperwork associated with the wills? If so did it mention anything about storage? 

poppystar

If you both had two copies have you checked each of the ones you still have to ensure they aren’t originals? If the signatures were in black ink it can be hard to distinguish sometimes. 

It’s certainly possible to get a copy accepted although may be only for ‘limited probate’ -but in reality that has made no practical difference other than confusing people at first. The solicitor lost the original in my case and as my father had done everything right and always been on top of paperwork he would have been so annoyed and upset. 

Like you there were reasons why I needed to get the copy accepted. It did take almost a year. In my case I got the solicitor to complete the PA13 but I did have a letter they had sent my father thanking him for his custom and confirming the Will was in their safe storage. Dig out any other paperwork or emails you have to do with the appointments for the Wills. 

Sorry you are having to deal with this - it truly was something that made the situation even more awful to deal with and took its toll on me. I hope you find a way through it. 

LilyVla

The solicitor did not send us a final letter regarding storage or closure of our file. We just went to the firm and collected the copy of the Wills after they were executed.

The solicitor did not advise us that we could not rely on the copies that he gave us. I assumed that the copies that he placed in sealed envelopes were as good as the original Will.

 

LilyVla

I feel really foolish. I wish I'd not been so blind to things. I should have questioned the solicitor on why he gave me two envelopes marked copies of the Last Will. He gave me absolutely no advice regarding the importance of the original Will. What was the point of just giving us copies?  We both have always kept all our documents in order. I have never lost any documents in my life.

I've made an appointment with a firm on Friday to do a Will for myself eince I dont have the original of mine either. I don't want my daughter to go through this hassle when I die.

Keep_pedalling

LilyVla said:

The solicitor did not send us a final letter regarding storage or closure of our file. We just went to the firm and collected the copy of the Wills after they were executed.

The solicitor did not advise us that we could not rely on the copies that he gave us. I assumed that the copies that he placed in sealed envelopes were as good as the original Will.

It sounds like someone made an error and put a copy rather than the original in those envelopes, you would not normally put a copy in a sealed envelope.

Go back to the solicitors and tell them that neither of the wills you received were the originals at that has left you in a difficult position in that you cannot apply for probate and need their help to rectify the situation. Hopefully they will be able to provide you with supporting documentation to submit with the PA13. The other, less urgent, issue you have is that the will that you paid for yourself is useless as you don’t have the original and you would like that put right as well.

If you meet resistance then you need to submit a formal complaint as per the following link.

https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/public/for-public-visitors/using-a-solicitor/complain-about-a-solicitor

LilyVla

I have a question. I've worked out my husband’s estate is worth less than £250k. Would intestacy rules mean that amount would still be divided between me ( as spouse) and the children?