How do I find my own will

lisyloo

I have a copy of my own will (I’m alive) but the solicitor that had it has gone into liquidation some year ago.
I’ve been through the filings on companies house and it mentions a few companies that took on WIP and debt collection.
is there a process that they follow for passing on old paperwork like wills and deeds?
is there a way I can find out where the original is?

thanks in advnce

poppystar

I’m sure you can if they were regulated solicitors but others seem to have had difficulty even using that route. If they went into liquidation some years ago maybe it could be time anyway to write a new Will? 

Ms_Chocaholic

If you can't locate it then type it out, check and double check it several times to ensure the wording is correct, print and get it witnessed and that can be your new will.

WillowLeaf

Good to hear you're alive

This register may have it - https://www.nationalwillregister.co.uk/

RAS

Did your use a real solicitor's office or a will writer.

The SRA will know where the paperwork from the original solicitor's office was sent. Which might be take a bit of time, as long as that firm hasn't also closed and their paperwork transferred to another company, rinse and repeat.

lisyloo

It was a proper solicitor.

lisyloo

WillowLeaf said:

Good to hear you're alive

This register may have it - https://www.nationalwillregister.co.uk/

😀 thanks
i mentioned the alive state as theres a process for finding wills of the deceased.

Keep_pedalling

You original will will have been transferred to to another solicitor you can find out who this is via the SRA.

https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/solicitor-closed-down/

Keep_pedalling

Ms_Chocaholic said:

If you can't locate it then type it out, check and double check it several times to ensure the wording is correct, print and get it witnessed and that can be your new will.

Not a good idea if the will is very old as it may be in this case, a lot has changed over the last couple of decades and there are still a lot of will out there that contain clauses that can create issues that they would not have done originally. The most common of these are NRB trusts and survivorship clauses that can create unnessesary IHT liabilities under certain situations. 

Emmia

When you get your will back / get a new will deposit it with HM Courts and Tribunals to avoid this issue happening again.

lisyloo

I’ve contacted the sra (national will register charge quite a lot for a search and it may not be there).
I need to change it anyway, If my 80 year old mother were to inherit I’d just push her into IHT with little benefit during her lifetime.
circumstances were different when we wrote our wills.