reading of will

MrsN

Hi, looking for advice/past experiences please.
My mum recently passed away and my brother and I are unsure of normal procedure for reading the will.
A) Should we contact the solicitor or will they automatically contact us? How soon is the will read after a death?

Jo King

Does the solicitor have the will?
Who is the executor?

MrsN

Hi, I presume the solicitor has the will. Is this not always the case? I do not know who the executor is.

tudlytops

MrsN wrote: »

Hi, I presume the solicitor has the will. Is this not always the case? I do not know who the executor is.

This is not always the case.

But a will must have an executor and it is the executor that will take care of it.

Has anyone contacted the solicitor?

MrsN

My brother is the eldest so he is probably the executor. nobody has contacted the solicitor as we are conscious that if it is not common practice then we will look greedy or disrespectful.

tudlytops

MrsN wrote: »

My brother is the eldest so he is probably the executor. nobody has contacted the solicitor as we are conscious that if it is not common practice then we will look greedy or disrespectful.

I understand that, but how will the solicitor know if no one contacts him/her?

It's ok to contact the solicitor...

I have a will and I have informer the executors of such will (I had to name 2).so they know what to do.

Jo King

Not everyone makes a will. Not every solicitor knows when someone has died even if they have made a will and left it with the solicitor. It is also possible that there is a later will than the one the solicitor has, stored elsewhere.
The best thing to do is contact the solicitor who dealt with your mother when she was alive and find out if he has a will and who the executor is. What happens after that is a matter for the executor.

MrsN

Thanks, I appreciate the advice. Perhaps we should make contact and take it from there.

tudlytops

MrsN wrote: »

Thanks, I appreciate the advice. Perhaps we should make contact and take it from there.

yes I think that is the best thing..

And i am sorry for being so insensitive, didn't even think to ask you how are you cooping?, I know this is a difficult time and it never feels like the right time to deal with a will.

MrsN

Thank you for your concern. It seems vulgar to discuss a will after the death of a relative, but my interest is not born out of greed, just the need to know where I stand. Thanks again.

coylemj

While it makes for a good scene in movies, I don't believe that solicitors actually conduct a formal 'reading' of the will.

I would suggest that someone from the family go to the solicitor, provide a copy of the death cert. and ask for a photocopy of the will. If the solicitor isn't a close family friend and is not aware that your mother died, he may not hand over a copy of the will without proof that she is dead, otherwise he might consider himself at risk of being guilty of professional misconduct for betraying client confidentiality - the will is technically secret until the person dies at which stage it loses that protection and becomes a public document.

Once you (the family) have a copy of the will, I would suggest that the executor send copies of the will to anyone who was a close relative of the deceased and who might have had a reasonable expectation of being included in the will. This should definitely include all of her children and children of deceased children if such exist.

If the will and the estate are relatively straightforward, tell the executor to consider doing the probate without using a solicitor which will save a bundle of money. Some solicitors who draw up wills include a provision in the will saying that that specific solicitor is to be used as part of the probate, this is not binding on the executor who can any any or no solicitor.

Jo King

The will should be sought as soon as the person has died. Sometimes there are directions regarding funeral arrangements included in the body of the will.
The will represents the deceased's last wishes and there is nothing wrong with setting about implementing them. There is a lot to be said to doing it promptly. The longer the delay the greater potential for complications to arise.

coylemj

Jo King wrote: »

The will should be sought as soon as the person has died. Sometimes there are directions regarding funeral arrangements included in the body of the will.

Jo King

I recognise your good intentions but it's a bit late for the OP to be consulting the will to sound out his mother's wishes regarding her funeral. The purpose of a will is to provide for the disposition of the material assets of the deceased.

If someone wants their ashes scattered on the grass in Old Trafford or if they want to be buried in a wicker coffin on Tory Island, they can include such an aspiration in their will but it counts for nought because it has no binding effect on the next of kin.

If you want to give your family directions as to your funeral arrangements you should do so in a letter and hand the same to one or more members of your family. Including it in your will which will be locked away in a safe in your solicitor's office is not the way to do it.

Jo King

I am not saying that it is the way to do it, but it often happens. It can be very disappointing for relatives to find, after the funeral is over, that the deceased wished to have had something done differently.Quite often people do not follow every direction given in a will, but it is useful to know what the wishes of the deceased were. Even with legacies, sometimes beneficiaries renounce their rights and family members make arrangements for the disposal of assets among themselves.
The sooner the will is located and checked after death the better.

mathepac

coylemj wrote: »

... I would suggest that someone from the family go to the solicitor, provide a copy of the death cert. ...

This is probably the only way to progress matters, unless the solicitor happens to read the death notices column in the papers.

coylemj wrote: »

... and ask for a photocopy of the will. If the solicitor isn't a close family friend and is not aware that your mother died, he may not hand over a copy of the will without proof that she is dead, otherwise he might consider himself at risk of being guilty of professional misconduct for betraying client confidentiality - the will is technically secret until the person dies at which stage it loses that protection and becomes a public document...

This is all inaccurate.

The solicitor in all probability will only communicate with the executor as strictly speaking the content of the will at this stage is confidential and no-one else's business.

The will only becomes a matter of public record after the grant of probate has issued.

coylemj wrote: »

... Once you (the family) have a copy of the will, I would suggest that the executor send copies of the will to anyone who was a close relative of the deceased and who might have had a reasonable expectation of being included in the will. This should definitely include all of her children and children of deceased children if such exist. ...

Normal practice is to only copy those portions of the will dealing with specific beneficiaries to those named. Anyone who is not a beneficiary can consult the public record after the grant of probate.

kaiser sauze

MrsN, are you sure that there is a will?

Many people die intestate, i.e. where no will was made.

tonyheaney

MrsN wrote: »

Hi, looking for advice/past experiences please.
My mum recently passed away and my brother and I are unsure of normal procedure for reading the will.
A) Should we contact the solicitor or will they automatically contact us? How soon is the will read after a death?

Hi MrsN I just wondered how it al went for you. My aunt died in may this year and one month later i was contacted to say i was in my will. after 6 months her house was put up for sale. how long does al this process take , what if anything should i do?

Pat Mustard

The OP has not posted in five years so it's unlikely that she will respond.

In any case, the solicitor's main contact is the executor. If you contact the executor, you should be able to get the answers that you need. Even if the executor does not have the answers, he or she should be able to get those answers from the solicitor.

tonyheaney

Pat Mustard wrote: »

The OP has not posted in five years so it's unlikely that she will respond.

In any case, the solicitor's main contact is the executor. If you contact the executor, you should be able to get the answers that you need. Even if the executor does not have the answers, he or she should be able to get those answers from the solicitor.

Cheers Pat