Outcome of Probate publicly available

MissProcrastinator

I am aghast and shocked. My Dad passed away and we had to go through Probate. All his assets were left to my Mum. Through the Gov website for £1.50 ANYBODY can get access to how much was left to my Mum and her address. I believe this could leave my Mum vulnerable to being taken advantage of and targeted. How is this not considered? All someone needs to do is look through the death notices and then after a period of time search for them on the Gov website and see who they left the money to, where they live and how much was left. Is there any way of removing this public access due to these concerns?

poseidon1

There are very rare circumstances where it is considered ' undesirable and inappropriate ' for a will to be available for public scrutiny per blog below - 

https://www.furleypage.co.uk/why-are-wills-public-documents-and-how-do-i-protect-sensitive-information/#:~:text=So, is the principle that wills should,wishes of the deceased are carried out.

Outside of those circumstances the courts have decreed all the way back to the mid 19th century that it is overall in the public interest for Wills to be available for public inspection on demand, in the interests of 'transparency and fairness'.

Keep_pedalling

The main beneficiary’s address will only be obtainable if it is mentioned in the will and it is not something that needs to be included, or if they are also the executor of the estate. 

We do see quite a few threads on here where beneficiaries complain of less than honest executors, but there is less room for dishonesty when the executor knows that the will and value of the estate become accessible to anyone who wishes to view them. I can’t ever recall a thread where this has caused a beneficiary an issue. 

TonyMMM

Probated wills, as well as Birth, Marriage and Death certificates, are considered public documents in E/W and have statutory rights for anyone to access them.

Wills are very rarely "sealed" and only on the instruction of the High Court.

You could ask your MP to propose a change in the law if you feel strongly about it.

MyRealNameToo

MissProcrastinator said:

I am aghast and shocked. My Dad passed away and we had to go through Probate. All his assets were left to my Mum. Through the Gov website for £1.50 ANYBODY can get access to how much was left to my Mum and her address. I believe this could leave my Mum vulnerable to being taken advantage of and targeted. How is this not considered? All someone needs to do is look through the death notices and then after a period of time search for them on the Gov website and see who they left the money to, where they live and how much was left. Is there any way of removing this public access due to these concerns?

It is considered, as too is considered that a relative may have been denied their legal entitlement through dishonesty or incompetence of the executor. Ultimately the politicians who set the laws have decided that they should be public record. 

Probate is court and all court judgements are public record. Before 1858 when the court of probate was formed it was church courts that dealt with wills. The Canterbury Cathedral Court was dealing with the majority of them and they have public records of wills going back to 1384. 

Court records are public so people can see justice being done. It's supposed to give comfort that a judge isnt taking back handers to always rule in favour of a bank because you can go through and see all the judgements they've passed. Obviously practically how many people do so is another matter and interestingly often the transcripts of courts are not public record but owned by the stenographer who produced them per the normal rules of copyright in the UK. 


So yes, appeal to your MP to change the law but with hundreds of years of this practice it's unlikely to be something many will consider. Alternatively you can apply to have records sealed by the High Court but you have to prove to them why it should be done -v- the right for the public (inc potentially defrauded relatives) to see the records. Even then they are only sealed for a period, Prince Philips will was sealed for 90 years and so will become public record within the lifetime of some people alive today.