Every day Certainty Will Search prevents estates being distributed incorrectly because an unknown Will exists. In the majority of cases these Wills are unknown to the client and the professional dealing with the estate and without any indication that they exist.
In the below probate, two Wills were known about, a homemade Will and a Will written by a solicitor. However, it was not that straight forward and the below demonstrates that it is equally important to have professional advice when distributing an estate, as it is when writing, a Will to avoid risk and prevent issues.
Sharon Baker, Fellow of the Institute of Paralegals, Mowll & Mowll explains: “When our clients approached us, they were in possession of a homemade Will that the deceased had made. On further inspection, the Will was not valid due to it only having one signature of a witness as opposed to the two required to make it a valid Will.
“Our clients were aware of an older Will that the testator had made previously, indeed they had seen a copy of it, but they were unaware of who wrote it or where it was stored and wanted to do everything they could to avoid the estate being distributed intestate.
“I advised that they conduct a Certainty Will Search. We conducted a Will Search Combined, which checks to see if a Will has been registered with the National Will Register and also searches nationally in three geographically targeted areas for Wills that have not been registered. A Will had not been registered or found in the initial geographical areas the Certainty Will Search encompassed. Based on our client’s knowledge of the deceased’s life, we decided to add additional geographical areas to broaden the Certainty Will Search and discovered a Will at a firm nearly 100 miles away from Mowll & Mowll, made in 1977.
“Thanks to the Certainty Will Search, we were able to quickly locate the Will that our clients were aware of which prevented the estate being intestate. Without the search, it would have made finding the earlier Will, which turned out to be the last valid Will, more difficult, expensive and time consuming and risked not being able to find it at all.”
To find out how a Certainty Will Search finds unknown Wills, proves last Wills and therefore protects all involved in the distribution of an estate call 0330 100 3660 or email enquiries@certainty.co.uk for further information.
