When a family member dies, it is usually up to their next of kin to locate a copy of the person's last will and testament. This document will leave specific instructions for how the person's estate should be managed and distributed after they die, which must be followed strictly. A will is a legal document that must be executed to the letter, and only the latest will is legally valid - any earlier copies are rendered invalid by the creation of a new one. This means that it is vital to find the document and be certain you have the right version, which can sometimes pose a challenge.

The person who searches for the will is not necessarily the executor of the will - the person tasked with managing and distributing the deceased's estate. The will should name an executor, but without a copy it can be hard to confirm whose responsibility this will be. Someone with access to the deceased's home and a copy of their death certificate should take up the responsibility of finding the will so that the probate process can get underway.
If the person does not have a will, their estate must be distributed according to strict legal rules, so it is very important to search thoroughly for the will. If you do not know where the will is or even if it exists, this can be challenging, but there are a few official and private channels you can use to try to trace it. Here, the experienced wills and probate solicitors at JMW outline the key ways to trace and verify someone's last will and testament after their death, and to identify whether the document you have found is the correct version.

Search the Person's Property and Belongings

Testators are often advised to tell someone they trust about where their will can be found. If the author of the will did not tell you this information before they died, you could ask other close friends or relatives, or a professional like a solicitor or financial advisor who represented the person.

If you cannot learn where the will is stored from someone else, the next step is to search the deceased’s home and paperwork for any sign of their will. The law states that wills must be physical documents, not digital ones, which means that there is likely to be a physical copy among the person's possessions. Wills are often stored:

• in a safe or locked drawer;
• in a safety deposit box with the person's bank;
• with the Principal Registry of the Family Division of the High Court, where wills were stored by the Probate Service prior to changes introduced in 2019; or
• with a professional will storage company or solicitor.

If you cannot find a copy of the will itself, you may find other documentation that indicates where it may be found, such as contact details of a law firm or a will registration certificate. Finding these among the person's possessions can offer other routes to finding a copy of the will.

Contact the Deceased's Solicitor

Most people use a solicitor or professional will-writing service to produce their will for them, and many solicitors will also store a will safely on your behalf. If you know that the deceased had a solicitor that they worked with regularly, or you can find any paperwork relating to a specific law firm, start by getting in touch with them.

Under the Solicitors Regulation Authority rules, a solicitor can confirm if they hold a will, but they can only release it to the executor named in the will. Once a grant of probate has been issued to the executor, allowing them to take control of the estate, the will becomes a public document and it is possible to purchase a copy at this point, but not before.

Use a Will Search Service

If you cannot locate a will, there are commercial services available that can help you to search for it. Organisations like the National Will Register maintain a database of registered wills that is used by some solicitors, and you can filter searches by location relative to the area where the deceased lived. This means that, if the person worked with a professional to write their will, there is a reasonable chance you will be able to find it using this approach, and you can request a search even if you’re not sure a will was made. However, it is not advisable to use this approach straight away, as there is a fee associated with these searches and there is no guarantee they will turn up the information you are looking for. Not every solicitor uses the service. 

Check the Probate Records

If a will has already gone through probate and been recognised as legally valid, it becomes a public document. As such, if you believe that this is the case for the will you are searching for, you can perform a search through the HM Courts and Tribunals Service's (HMCTS's) Probate Records. It is free to search for those in England and Wales, and the database contains all records of grants issued (including both grants of probate and letters of administration) and copies of the relevant wills, which you can purchase for a nominal fee. You can search with the full name of the person who died and the year of their death. If no will is available, a different process will allow you to set up an alert when someone applies for probate, at which point you can access the will.

What if There Is No Will?

If no will exists or can be found after diligent searching, the estate is considered intestate. This also applies if you find a will, but it does not meet the legal requirements for validity - for example, if it has not been signed by two independent witnesses who are not beneficiaries. In such cases, there is no named executor, and so no one can apply to the Probate Registry for a grant of probate. Instead, someone who wishes to manage the deceased's estate, usually a close friend or family member, must apply for letters of administration.

In such cases, the estate must be distributed according to the rules of intestacy. These rules vary slightly in Scotland and Northern Ireland, but in England and Wales the entire estate will be inherited by the nearest relative in a specific priority order. If the deceased was married or in a civil partnership, and had children, the inheritance is split between them according to a specific formula. If there were no children, the spouse or civil partner receives the entire estate. If there is no spouse or civil partner to inherit, the estate will be distributed in the following order of priority:

• children (or their descendants if a child has predeceased);
• parents;
• full siblings (or their descendants);
• half-siblings (or their descendants);
• grandparents; then
• aunts and uncles.

If no relatives can be found, the estate passes to the Crown. Among the downsides of this is the fact that unmarried partners, stepchildren who have not been legally adopted, and friends have no automatic right to inherit. Meanwhile, estranged spouses or partners may receive the full estate, provided they were not legally separated from the deceased. Needless to say, this often conflicts with the deceased person's intentions, but the only way to have these intentions recognised is to write a legally binding last will and testament and make sure it can be found by your loved ones after you die.