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.)

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I recently discovered the UK will register whilst surfing the net. The UK will registers’ chairman is a former president of the Law Society and until I stumbled upon it I was totally unaware of the purpose of a UK will register. I believe it’s the will register that has actually now gone online.

I found it a great source of information and until you start reading you don’t realise what a complex and tricky business writing a will can be but the UK will register contains all the information you need to write, search for or understand what’s involved when you need to write a will or a loved one passes on when you need to find a will or seek legal advice because a complication may have arisen.

What I found particularly useful on this UK will register site was the ability to be able to log an enquiry with a solicitor who can assist with all matters regarding wills and probate. I would recommend that anybody needing a will or dealing with a will take a good look at this useful source of information.

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

On researching the subject of Wills, the facts seem fairly simple. Having one is obviously a good idea so you’re estate is divided according to your wishes. Not having one could potentially cause your family a big headache, extra upheaval and distress and possibly a larger inheritance tax bill that your loved ones could be forced to pay.

Unfortunately my family learnt the hard way when my Mum died without a Will leaving us with a large inheritance bill that meant that we had to sell the family home and move into smaller accommodation. Not wanting this to happen to my children, I’ve done some research into registering my Will with a UK Will Register. From what I can gather, the basic idea behind a UK Will Register is that it ensures that the location of your Will is recorded so it can be found when you pass on. I realise now that my family are not the only ones to have suffered such upheaval resulting from a parent’s missing Will.

There are thousands of benefactors out there in the same position who can’t find family Wills. I personally think that a UK Will Register should be compulsory for everyone who writes a Will but then again writing a Will and registering it with a UK Will Register is something we all need to take seriously and view it as a caring act of necessity for our families so they don’t suffer unnecessarily. Having already written my Will and registered it now with the UK Will Register www.Certainty.co.uk, I’m trying to encourage everyone I know to do the same.

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