Death of Brother

elsien

You check with the land registry (only costs a few pounds) and look for a Form A restriction on the register. That tends to indicate tenants in common rather than joint tenants. 

GrumpyDil

elsien said:

You check with the land registry (only costs a few pounds) and look for a Form A restriction on the register. That tends to indicate tenants in common rather than joint tenants. 

OP Make sure you do this using the actual land registry site (https://search-property-information.service.gov.uk/search/) rather than one of the premium we do it for you and charge you a decent additional fee for the privilege sites.

lincroft1710

You can use this website

https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/

to search for probate records or a will in England and Wales

SiliconChip

lincroft1710 said:

You can use this website

https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/

to search for probate records or a will in England and Wales

Doesn't seem likely that a search will find anything yet unless the ex-wife was named as executor in the Will (if one exists) and has already applied for and had probate granted, all without the OP knowing anything about it.

lincroft1710

SiliconChip said:

lincroft1710 said:

You can use this website

https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/

to search for probate records or a will in England and Wales

Doesn't seem likely that a search will find anything yet unless the ex-wife was named as executor in the Will (if one exists) and has already applied for and had probate granted, all without the OP knowing anything about it.

I agree it can take some time. In the OP's favour is the fact that the late brother's ex wouldn't benefit if the will was "lost" (I know of a case where the surviving spouse did not benefit from the will of their deceased OH, and so no will was ever found)