Solicitors

davidwlkr0

I'm an executor, who has been working with a certified copy of a will. Applying for probate requires an 'original' will.
 In this case, the will was lodged with a solicitor (to whom deceased was referred by Age Concern) who turns out to have been struck off. The Solicitors Regulatory Authority, giving only sketchy details, is unable to trace her then firm, her whereabouts or any successor firms. Moral of the tail (1), keep your original will in a safer place than with a solicitor.

poppystar

Good luck with getting the copy accepted! It takes ages. 

Savvy_Sue

Possibly the safest place is with the Probate Service itself. 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/store-a-will-with-the-probate-service/how-to-store-a-will-with-the-probate-service

SiliconChip

It seems reasonably straightforward to apply for probate where the original Will is unavailable but you have a copy, although @poppystar is probably right that it will take longer to be accepted.

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

poppystar

SiliconChip said:

It seems reasonably straightforward to apply for probate where the original Will is unavailable but you have a copy, although @poppystar is probably right that it will take longer to be accepted.

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

Not sure I’d exactly call it straightforward - there’s a lot of affidavits and swearing involved and it gets escalated up and up the Probate food chain. In my case it was a simple solicitor carelessness issue - which the firm did eventually admit to  and were then agreeable to complete their part of the PA13. In OPs case it might be more difficult to get someone beyond the OP themselves to corroborate the loss.

Oh, and without the original you get the joy of a limited Grant of Probate🙄.