Wills

Sterlingtimes

My mother made a Will with a solicitor in 2010/2011. She has a receipt from the solicitor. She is now 95 years old and in hospital following a recent fall. She has age-consistent mild cognitive impairment but not vascular dementia or Alzheimer's.

Before her fall, she wrote to her solicitor to see a copy of her Will. The solicitor has not responded. I have today written to the solicitor asking for him/her to provide the copy or at least to confirm that the copy is held safety in their office. It may be considered problematic that I write this letter, but my mother is very ill.

Do solicitors routinely hold copies of Wills that they have written by them? Do Solicitors register Wills?

tacpot12

Solicitors don't register Wills, but they do routinely hold copies. 

The solictor will probably not share a copy of the Will with you, and might not respond to you. If they don't, your mother should chase them, and then complain about them not responding to her. If she is too ill to do this, you might have to wait until she passes, and then the Solicitor will release the Will to one of the executors. It's not really needed until then, unless you also have a Power of Attorney. 

Keep_pedalling

Our solicitor holds our will, but it would be normal practice to provide the client with a copy at the time.

While she still has the ability she should put lasting powers of attorney especially one for finance in place, without it you may find your self struggling if she does lose her mental capacity.

Sterlingtimes

tacpot12 said:

Solicitors don't register Wills, but they do routinely hold copies. 

The solictor will probably not share a copy of the Will with you, and might not respond to you. If they don't, your mother should chase them, and then complain about them not responding to her. If she is too ill to do this, you might have to wait until she passes, and then the Solicitor will release the Will to one of the executors. It's not really needed until then, unless you also have a Power of Attorney. 

Thank you. This is helpful. I have the necessary powers of attorney. My mother claims that she has never seen the final copy, but it is encouraging that they routinely hold copies. My mother is too ill at present to do anything but there is a good chance that she will recover.

Sterlingtimes

Keep_pedalling said:

Our solicitor holds our will, but it would be normal practice to provide the client with a copy at the time.

While she still has the ability she should put lasting powers of attorney especially one for finance in place, without it you may find your self struggling if she does lose her mental capacity.

Thank you. Yes, the powers of attorney are in place but I fear that the solicitor will not respond to me in matters concerning the Will while she is alive. If she were to die intestate, then I would be the sole beneficiary.

MarzipanCrumble

Silly question maybe ...... but is the solicitor firm that drew up the will still extant?  I got a letter recently saying that xxxx firm had taken over yyyy firm that had held my will, and xxxx firm were now the custodians.

Keep_pedalling

Sterlingtimes said:

tacpot12 said:

Solicitors don't register Wills, but they do routinely hold copies. 

The solictor will probably not share a copy of the Will with you, and might not respond to you. If they don't, your mother should chase them, and then complain about them not responding to her. If she is too ill to do this, you might have to wait until she passes, and then the Solicitor will release the Will to one of the executors. It's not really needed until then, unless you also have a Power of Attorney. 

Thank you. This is helpful. I have the necessary powers of attorney. My mother claims that she has never seen the final copy, but it is encouraging that they routinely hold copies. My mother is too ill at present to do anything but there is a good chance that she will recover.

She must have seen and reviewed the final copy before she signed it (unless of cause she never actually got round to doing that)

daz378

Yes  had a will done in 2021. .cost 150 pound was given 3 copies....adding a person to my will this..week now 180....solicitor had my original will on computer

Sterlingtimes

MarzipanCrumble said:

Silly question maybe ...... but is the solicitor firm that drew up the will still extant?  I got a letter recently saying that xxxx firm had taken over yyyy firm that had held my will, and xxxx firm were now the custodians.

Thank you. I am suspicious of a change of ownership. The company uses the original name as a "trading style" but now uses a group name similar to "Your Wonderful Solicitors".

Sterlingtimes

Keep_pedalling said:

She must have seen and reviewed the final copy before she signed it (unless of cause she never actually got round to doing that)

Thank you. We have a copy of the invoice. The solicitor ignored my mother's letter and did not answer my email. They may be concerned that I may be manipulating matters. Matters are now worse. My mother is in hospital and suffering from delusional behaviour. She may not be in a fit state to make a new Will. Unless this Will or a previous Will is discovered, my mother could die intestate.

Floss

Sterlingtimes said:

Keep_pedalling said:

She must have seen and reviewed the final copy before she signed it (unless of cause she never actually got round to doing that)

Thank you. We have a copy of the invoice. The solicitor ignored my mother's letter and did not answer my email. They may be concerned that I may be manipulating matters. Matters are now worse. My mother is in hospital and suffering from delusional behaviour. She may not be in a fit state to make a new Will. Unless this Will or a previous Will is discovered, my mother could die intestate.

And would that be an issue?

Have you spoken to anyone at the solicitors, or just emailed them?