Certainty’s Will search services are referenced in the Probate Practitioners Handbook 6th Edition (section 16.22 Missing Wills) which offers and authoritative guide to good practice.

Extract from the Law Society’s ‘Probate Practitioners Handbook’ 6th Edition 2011.

16.22 MISSING WILLS (Page 273)

It can be difficult to discover whether there is a Will and, if so, where it is located.

PRs run the risk of distributing the estate on the basis of an intestacy when there is, in fact, a Will.

It is possible to register the location of a Will with the Certainty National Will Register (www.certainty.co.uk). A registered Will can then be located by a search of the register. Where a Will has not been registered, it is possible to use a different form of Certainty search. This issues a missing Will notification to solicitors in the areas where the testator was most likely to have made his or her Will, i.e. where he or she worked or lived.

A further reference;

18.4 INTESTATE AND PARTIALLY INTESTATE ESTATE CHECKLIST (Page 319)

18.4.2 Has a search for a Will been made? (If it is thought a Will was made, the ‘Wills and Whereabouts’ page in the Gazette, Certainty, local solicitors, the deposit facility at the Principal Registry (see appendix F for address) and enquiry of the deceased’s bank, friends and relatives may all be of assistance.)

For Solicitors – To purchase the latest edition of the Probate Practitioners handbook, click here.

Protect yourself by using a solicitor practising in Wills and Probate, who as they are regulated there is the help available if things go wrong.

BBC Report 0n the Topic

Channel 4 Report on the Topic

Eccentric siblings Ethel Willson and Mabel Cook, described as like ‘peas in a pod’, drew up a joint will in 1991 leaving their possessions to their family and friends.

Mrs Cook died aged 83 in 1995, but in 2006 her younger sister dramatically changed the will, just two months before her own death aged 92, leaving all but £10,000 of the estate to their hairdresser Jill Fraser.

Now a High Court judge has ruled that because the sisters had a mutual agreement before Mrs Cook died, the original will should be honoured.

The mutual wills drawn up in 1991 carved up the childless sisters’ wealth between 15 of their closest family, godchildren and friends, not including Mrs Fraser, pictured.

Under the revised will in September 2006, Mrs Fraser inherited all of the estate, save for a £10,000 legacy bequeathed to Mrs Willson’s carer.

Although frail, former legal secretary Mrs Willson was judged to have had the mental capacity to make a valid will at the time.

The sisters’ family and friends, who would have been left with nothing, mounted a costly legal battle against Mrs Fraser, arguing that the first will should stand.

The sisters set up home together in Stoneleigh, near Epsom, Surrey, in the late 1980s after both lost their husbands in the 1970s.

The hairdresser claimed she was entitled to the legacy because she was the only person to visit Mrs Willson in her dying days in hospital. But the family accused her of failing to inform them that she had been admitted to hospital. Yesterday, at the London hearing, Judge Jonathan Gaunt, QC, ruled that the ‘mirror wills’ the sisters signed in 1991 remained binding even after Mrs Cook’s death. It is one of only a small handful of cases in which the ‘doctrine of mutual wills’ has been applied.

The ruling means travelling hairdresser Mrs Fraser, 72, will now have to pay back what she can in cash and a charge will be put against her home, which she bought for £362,500 in July last year, using some of the legacy, for the balance.

Referring to the sisters’ family and friends, many of whom live in Malvern, Worcestershire, who will now inherit the money as ‘very kind, decent people’, the judge said that they have no plans to enforce the charge over Mrs Fraser’s home while she still lives there. He added that he was ‘very pleased’ to hear that the 1991 beneficiaries have no intention of trying to claw back the £10,000 legacy to Mrs Willson’s carer, who was ‘ particularly good to her’.

Source – Daily Mail 13th August 2010

As part of this, judges assume that the person in question would want to be remembered fondly by their family and as having “done the right thing in their will”. This means that estates are often disposed of in favour of friends or relatives, under “statutory wills”, even if they have only recently come into the life of a vulnerable person. Under English law, people have long had the right to make “eccentric” wills and do not have to explain why, for instance, they chose to disinherit their children. But courts can make a “statutory will” when someone lacks capacity to do so, usually if they never made one or if there has been a significant change in their family or fortune since they made a valid will but they can no longer make a new one.

The process is now carried out by the Court of Protection, which also has the power to decide on controversial medical treatment and almost always sits behind closed doors. Speaking at a conference on the effects of Britain’s ageing population on law, mental health and property, Mr Hewitt said: “People think that everybody has the right to inherit their parents’ wealth and that is not where this jurisdiction was a few decades ago.”

He agreed that recent cases set out principles on how the new law should be applied. But he went on: “What I think is missing is a much clearer statement that deters the nephew who ‘rocks up’ late into the day, inveigles his way into auntie’s affairs.

“Auntie, when she had capacity, chose who to leave her money to, she made a will, she no longer has capacity, she is now vulnerable. It’s a classic situation that the court historically was so keen to ensure by introducing strict rules about how wills are executed that those wishes could not be subverted.

“Best interests, I think, puts huge pressure on those who have responsibility to P [the person whose will is being decided upon] to agree that it is in fact in her best interests to reverse her previous testamentary wishes and bring in ‘Johnny-come-lately’, the nephew who is now visiting every week because he can see that auntie has rather a lot of money and he would like some.”

In previous decades, judges took what was known as a “substituted judgement” in which they put themselves in the shoes of the incapacitated person and tried to work out how they would want their goods divided.

But under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, which came into effect in October 2007, the Court of Protection must decide what would be in the person’s “best interests”. This involves considering their wishes and feelings, and senior judges have decided this includes how they would want to be remembered by their family.

Mr Justice Lewinson said in one important case: “For many people it is in their best interests that they be remembered with affection by their family and as having done ‘the right thing’ by their will.” Lord Justice Munby, speaking at the Withers conference on Tuesday, agreed with that approach, saying that “we have an interest in being remembered as having done the ‘right thing’, either in life or, post mortem, by will”.

Source – Telegraph By Martin Beckford 10 Jun 2010

Morrisons Solicitors is one of Surrey’s leading law firms who has been providing legal services for over 200 years and is a Legal 500 listed firm.

David Kingham, Head of Private Client, Morrisons says: “We offer Will registration to existing and new clients and the level of interest is very good. Our approach to offering Will registration to a client is an information process that encourages them to register without feeling that they are having something sold to them. We regard it as very important that a Will is registered and we give a default position to the client regarding registration of their Will as standard. If a client perceives that they do not have a need to register their Will we explain how registration aims to minimise the risk of difficulties in the future. Informing clients of these difficulties and how they can occur allows the client to make a truly informed and enlightened decision on registering their Will. Simply, we inform them of the benefits.”

Morrisons also report a 7.5% uplift in requests from clients to review their Wills following communication regarding registering them. With over 400 solicitor practices throughout England and Wales now using the Will register it is clear that the profession is becoming very proficient at offering Will registration.

Be Safe and use Certainty to register your will on the UK’s National Will Register.

The truth is you are no longer simply competing with the solicitors down the road.  The market has in recent years become much more competitive with other organisations entering the private client market and traditional areas of work being offered in different ways. Furthermore, over the next five years private client practitioners can expect to experience even greater threats and competition as the effects of the Legal Services Act begin to be fully felt.

If you, as a private client practitioner are concerned about the level and sophistication of the competition, then you should be S and it will only get tougher over the next few years.

So what in practical terms should you be considering in light of these threats? Here are the top 5 key issues that ought to be on your real and mental agendas for discussion:

1.Focus on personal performance marketing skills - Ask yourself these questions. How would you rate yourself and your colleagues when it comes to sales, influencing, writing and networking skills? If these are not strong points and you have had no real training in these areas then you are always going to be on the back foot. The big high street brand names who you may have to compete with, will have people who are very comfortable and highly trained in these personal skill areas. Like it or not your legal skills will be a given to most private clients. If you want to be able to compete in the years to come you need to ensure that all your team at all levels have beefed up their personal performance marketing skills. Think about it. They all either deal with enquiries from prospective clients, talk to existing clients or know and meet people who are potential clients in the future.

2. Don’t be a www firm! - You all know what www stands for. I have an alternative meaning to describe many practices I have met in the last year.  It stands for ‘worry’, ‘winge’ and ‘wait’! Many practitioners tell me how worried they are about the external threats, then ‘winge’ about how bad things have got and how ³this isn’t the legal profession they entered² S but what do they do about it? They ‘wait’ to see what others are doing and in the meantime do nothing! I can tell you S right now there are opportunities out there to be taken advantage of. The longer you wait however, the less chance you will have to find and exploit them.

3. Strengthen your relationships with your existing clients – This is very important indeed. Focus on this before you spend your marketing budget attempting to generate new business. The rationale for this is very simple.
Your competitors will be after your clients. You need to secure your relationship with them now to make them feel like you are ‘their’ legal firm. The object is to make them as uncomfortable as possible about going elsewhere.

The key thing is to keep in touch with your clients as often as possible once a matter has been concluded. This of course needs to be for things that are for the client’s benefit, without bombarding them with too much junk post or e mail.

Two good things worth considering that help in this respect, are offers to review past Wills they have made, or perhaps an invitation to them to register their Will through your firm with Certainty the national Will Register. Both of these demonstrate client service, cement your relationship and are potentially  revenue producing.

4. Work with others – As you cast your eye over the growing competition, you will see a pattern emerging of people and organisations with different strengths joining together for mutual benefit. Typically, both are able to bring something different to the party. The model of private client practitioners from legal firms providing front line Wills and Probate services for large brand names is a good example of this. Actively, discuss and explore the question S who can you work with?

5. Review your opening hours - I rang a firm two days ago at 9.20 a.m. S believe it or not as a prospective client. A recorded message greeted me with an message that they don’t open until 9.30 a.m! As simple as it may seem, start to ask questions about your opening hours and accessibility. Many of the brand names and your new competitors will simply generate more clients and business because they are open and available when you are not!

Be Safe and use Certainty to register your will on the UK’s National Will Register.

My fellow legal colleagues and I joined Certainty because we realised it had taken an old idea (a Wills Register), grabbed it by the scruff of the neck and turned it into something that produces enormous marketing, fee earning and client-enhancing benefits for the Wills & Probate professional.

Aside from the fact that Certainty is probably the most advanced Will register in the world, Certainty was developed to ensure a Will writing client is a client for life not just a one-off transaction and also creates further opportunities to gain new work from new clients. Certainty makes it easy to achieve this and it all starts with a simple Will registration.

Thoroughly researched and developed over two years, Certainty is extremely innovative. Subsequently it launched in early 2008 and is currently rolling out geographically around the UK.

With several hundred firms now on board as Founder members, Certainty is proving to be extremely beneficial for solicitors and the general public – clients and clients’ families.
Certainty is a living, breathing, easy to use and highly effective resource that can be at the heart of generating revenue for you.

A few important facts: the Certainty Will Register is ARERT compliant (European Network of Register of  Wills Association) so enjoys an easy interface with all jurisdictions. Certainty’s advisors and advocates are leading legal figures. Certainty has issued 750,000 Will registrations to date.

A Note on the Current Climate

I do understand how difficult things are at present – the credit crunch, property market, the impending Legal Services Act and stark warnings about technology taking over most law firm’s functions. 
What better time to strengthen and develop that part of your firm which may well be the jewel in the crown – the private client department.  Steal a march on unqualified will-writers, be on the front foot, make Wills and estate administration exciting and rewarding.

Certainty has great potential for the profession so please get in touch for an over the phone resume, or as one member puts it, “the biggest thing to hit our profession, ever!”

Reading-based Boyes Turner is one of the UK’s leading full service law firms. They work with many of the world’s largest multinationals and successful UK and European businesses – as well as looking after private clients’ interests.

Partner Caroline Wallis advises the firm’s high net worth clients on Wills, Inheritance Tax Planning, Probate and Trusts.  She says:

“Our first act after joining Certainty was to send a letter to everybody who has made a Will with us since May 2000, adapting one of the Certainty template letters.  There’s no doubt this has reminded people about us – the response rate was 10-20%, significantly higher than normal.

Nobody said ‘How dare you write to us!’ and everybody appreciates having a certificate that shows where their Will is held.

I like to think we will be able to prospect further using Certainty’s very cost-effective membership options and offers.”

Nicholls Christie Crocker offer a range of private client services from their offices just outside west London.
Solicitor Nicholas Christie finds the Certainty service

“very good for our firm.  Naturally we offer Certainty’s Will registration to clients whose Wills we have executed and also advise new clients to register.  We don’t charge extra for registration but include this within our scale of charges.  I’d say people are impressed with the service.

I hope it will bring in extra business as well.  For example, I’m about to send letters to 50 or 60 clients for whom we have acted recently but whose Wills we don’t at present hold.  Certainty’s letter templates are helpful.  We simply modify them to suit our particular needs.”

Glazer Delmar is one of south east London’s largest law firms, offering a range of legal support services and advice.  Head of their Wills & Probate department Susan England says:

“Certainty’s service has enabled us to conduct a review of our Wills bank with the added value of being able to introduce Will registration as a special offer.”  They charge £25 to register an individual Will, £40 for a couple’s mirror Wills.”

The firm’s website reminds clients that 67% of people do not know the location of their parents’ Wills, and adds:

• The Register records that we are holding  your Will. No one at the Register actually sees it and we keep it.
• Following your death, the Register gives us details about anyone who asks them about your Will.
• We answer the query if it is legitimate, but  if not, we ignore it, thus protecting your privacy.

“Although Glazer Delmar has taken care of all Wills lodged here in the past, and will continue to do so, there has never before been a national Wills Register and we do believe this service would be of benefit to our clients.”

Ms England adds:

“Although the Wills and probate market in this part of London is very cost-driven, our clients understand the benefits of registration.  Many have previously asked us how their family would know where to look for their Will.
I’d say that Certainty’s service helps us to engage with existing clients.  It also gives us extra marketing muscle that will prove especially valuable in combating the competition from non-solicitor firms when the new business structures permitted by the Legal Services Act start to impinge on our business.”

Phillips, a seven-partner practice, serves Hampshire’s private and business communities.

Solicitor Shirah Real, who specialises in Wills and probate and elderly client matters, says:

“Certainty has given our Wills and Probate team the opportunity to check that all our records are up-to-date, and offer Will registration as an additional service.  We’ve had a lot of positive interest from clients in response to our letters.  Often they tell us that hearing from us reminded them to update their Will.

We’ve also attracted new clients.  It can be difficult to market Wills as a service, which makes Certainty’s letter templates really helpful.  We explain that registering with Certainty records only the fact that their Will exists and where it is – not its contents.

Three types of clients find the service of particular value: those who don’t have much or even any family in the local area, those who travel a lot, and those who like to keep their affairs very private.

They all appreciate that registering the Will with Certainty is going to make probate easier for their family when the time comes.  So Certainty’s service has boosted our business and at the same time enabled us to give our clients added protection by registering their Wills.

I’d say that Certainty’s service is beneficial to our firm – it helps us to generate revenue – and is of real value to our clients.”

Developed over a two-year period, Certainty.co.uk has invested in excess of £1.5 million to provide a truly innovative national will register. Extensive research has ensured that the register complies with legal requirements. Certainty is also Basel Convention compliant and exceeds ARERT’s specification.
Certainty.co.uk is exclusively for the use of solicitors, STEP members and the general public. Unregulated ‘will writers’ are not eligible to use the register.

Certainty’s chairman, Kevin Martin, Law Society President 2005/6 holds the firm belief that Certainty provides a definitive solution supported by advanced technological investment and regular consultations with the most senior and experienced legal professionals.

Kevin says, “The historical need to set up a will register has been met by Certainty. The solution to the chronic problem of will registration has arrived for the first time. The Certainty will register has gone to extreme lengths to ensure in terms of ease of use, cost, and the marketing opportunities it creates for Solicitors and STEP members that it is a definitive and all encompassing solution. This world leading voluntary register certainly ticks all the boxes. It has been developed, funded, meets criteria, has national and international capabilities and is here now.”

Certainty is rolling out to the profession by postcode and has been extremely well received – this is demonstrated by the rapid uptake of members and users. If you are interested in Certainty and would like to know more contact 0845 408 0404 or email: info@certainty.co.uk

Be Safe and use Certainty to register a will on the UK’s National Will Register.