By Legal Futures’ Associates Certainty National Will Register [1]
It is not uncommon for clients that have written Wills with a firm to move house and relocate to other parts of the country. Due to these circumstances and the passage of time, clients may forget where their Will is stored or lose the copy of their Will, making it increasingly difficult for their loved ones to locate it when they pass away.
In the below case study, Faye Lowery, Director at member firm Breens Solicitors explains a case of a partner who was searching for their loved ones Will that was written over thirty years ago that they could not find and how a Certainty Will Search was able to quickly locate it.
Faye comments: “A member of the public contacted The National Will Register when their long-term partner passed away. The deceased had been living in a care home prior to their death after developing Alzheimer’s. The partner knew that they had made Wills in 1989 but due to several house moves; they had lost the copies of both Wills and could not remember the name of the firm who wrote them.”
“We received a Will Search Notification of the search and after checking our records, we were able to confirm that we were holding a Will for the deceased. We contacted the searcher to verify their identify and to supply a copy of the death certificate to confirm that they had a right to access the Will.”
Faye concludes: “The searcher was extremely grateful that they were able to locate the deceased’s Will and also to their surprise, their own Will. The searcher now lives over sixty miles away from where our office is located and we have changed the name of the firm 3 times since the 1989 Will was made which would have made trying to locate the deceased’s Will even more difficult.”
“The Certainty Will Search enabled the searcher to easily locate their partner’s Will which without it, could have left them endlessly searching for the Will and making the process more stressful at an already emotional time. As a solicitor, you want to ensure that your clients’ Wills can be easily repatriated with their named executors and beneficiaries when the time comes so that their last wishes can be adhered to and a Certainty Will Search ensures that this is possible.”
“At Breens Solicitors, Will Registration is part of our estate planning process and we conduct a Certainty Will Search on every intestacy, when acting as Professional Executor and always advise that a Certainty Will Search is conducted on every estate.”
For further information on the type of searches you can carry out, please contact The National Will Register on 0330 100 3660 or email enquiries@certainty.co.uk [2].