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Finding a Will

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  • 20-09-2016 9:21pm
    #1
    Fitz66
    Registered Users Posts: 1 ✭


    A relative of mine died and I am awaiting the results of her post mortem to register the death. I am the next of kin.

    How can I find out if a Will exists?
    Tagged:


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    #2
    nuac
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 6,769 Mod ✭✭✭✭nuac


    Contact the solicitor with whom the deceased usually dealt.

    Failing that, the secretary of the Solicitors' Bar Association for the county in which she lived will usually oblige by circulating the solicitors in the county. Usually no charge for that.

    If that fails you can advertise in the Law Society Gazette. There is a charge for that


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    #3
    brian_t
    Registered Users Posts: 6,669 ✭✭✭brian_t


    nuac wrote: »
    Contact the solicitor with whom the deceased usually dealt.

    Failing that, the secretary of the Solicitors' Bar Association for the county in which she lived will usually oblige by circulating the solicitors in the county. Usually no charge for that.

    If that fails you can advertise in the Law Society Gazette. There is a charge for that

    Assuming the OP is the next of kin - would it be an idea for them to look through the relatives home ?


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    #4
    L1011
    Registered Users Posts: 68,059 ✭✭✭✭L1011


    brian_t wrote: »
    Assuming the OP is the next of kin - would it be an idea for them to look through the relatives home ?

    Definitely, but there is a risk of turning up an outdated will when there is a newer one elsewhere and copies of the old one weren't destroyed; and assuming its the latest.

    Still some risk of that if they changed solicitors frequently but its far less likely.


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    #5
    loobylou
    Registered Users Posts: 1,418 ✭✭✭loobylou


    Never understood why Law Society or similar cannot hold a register of wills.
    Call them up with name, date of birth and perhaps pps number of deceased and they tell you which if any solicitor has prepared a will for them.


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    #6
    4ensic15
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 4,691 ✭✭✭4ensic15


    L1011 wrote: »
    Definitely, but there is a risk of turning up an outdated will when there is a newer one elsewhere and copies of the old one weren't destroyed; and assuming its the latest.

    Still some risk of that if they changed solicitors frequently but its far less likely.

    They should look through the relatives home anyway. There could be a later
    home-made Will which displaces the one the solicitor has, or there could be a later one made by a different solicitor.


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    #7
    4ensic15
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 4,691 ✭✭✭4ensic15


    loobylou wrote: »
    Never understood why Law Society or similar cannot hold a register of wills.
    Call them up with name, date of birth and perhaps pps number of deceased and they tell you which if any solicitor has prepared a will for them.

    Where would the Law Society get those details from? Many testators do not give their date of birth or PPs to their solicitor. Many people use unofficial versions of their name. To being such a scheme would reguire every solicitors office in the country to go through every file looking for a will, extract the details or get them if the don't have them and send it to the Law Society who would have to set up a unit to administer it, chase solicitors who were non compliant and respond to calls from the public. Who would pay solicitors for all the extra work and how would the LAw Society recoup the additional overheads?


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    #8
    brian_t
    Registered Users Posts: 6,669 ✭✭✭brian_t


    4ensic15 wrote: »
    They should look through the relatives home anyway. There could be a later
    home-made Will which displaces the one the solicitor has, or there could be a later one made by a different solicitor.

    Even if they don't find a will, they may find contact details of a solicitor.


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    #9
    Musketeer4
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 657 ✭✭✭Musketeer4


    Jubus, never mind the relative not being buried but the post mortem isn't even finalised and the OP is already rummaging through the house chasing after the will so see what they're getting! Classy.


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    #10
    L1011
    Registered Users Posts: 68,059 ✭✭✭✭L1011


    Musketeer4 wrote: »
    Jubus, never mind the relative not being buried but the post mortem isn't even finalised and the OP is already rummaging through the house chasing after the will so see what they're getting! Classy.

    Or to find specific requests to do with the funeral arrangements, perhaps?


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    #11
    brian_t
    Registered Users Posts: 6,669 ✭✭✭brian_t


    Musketeer4 wrote: »
    Jubus, never mind the relative not being buried but the post mortem isn't even finalised and the OP is already rummaging through the house chasing after the will so see what they're getting! Classy.

    The will might include the relatives burial preferences.

    The relative might have a policy to cover their funeral expenses.

    I don't see a problem with looking through the deceased papers.


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    #12
    Musketeer4
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 657 ✭✭✭Musketeer4


    Possibly but the impression I got was more along the lines of the OP wanting to see what goodies were up for grabs.


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    #13
    RoyalMarine
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,824 ✭✭✭RoyalMarine


    Musketeer4 wrote: »
    Possibly but the impression I got was more along the lines of the OP wanting to see what goodies were up for grabs.

    How so?

    The OP mentioned that a post mortem is being conducted, and as such, it's probably a good idea to be aware of any burial instructions that would be in the will.
    Finding it at this stage is important.

    That's the impression I got from it.


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    #14
    loobylou
    Registered Users Posts: 1,418 ✭✭✭loobylou


    4ensic15 wrote: »
    Where would the Law Society get those details from? Many testators do not give their date of birth or PPs to their solicitor. Many people use unofficial versions of their name. To being such a scheme would reguire every solicitors office in the country to go through every file looking for a will, extract the details or get them if the don't have them and send it to the Law Society who would have to set up a unit to administer it, chase solicitors who were non compliant and respond to calls from the public. Who would pay solicitors for all the extra work and how would the LAw Society recoup the additional overheads?
    It could not be done retrospectively, but why not commence one for new wills. Its obviously not in a testators interest that a will cannot be found after death so why, to would he/she not provide their personal details.
    The Law Society need not keep an actual copy of the will, just a reference to which solicitors office has a copy.
    I'm sure the family of a deceased person would be happy to pay a small fee, say 20euro for the info which would go towards covering costs.
    Same for title deeds too.


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    #15
    coylemj
    Registered Users Posts: 25,372 ✭✭✭✭coylemj


    Senator Terry Leyden (F.F. Roscommon) has made several attempts to introduce a bill in the Seanad to provide for the statutory registration of wills, most recently in April this year. A previous bill introduced in 2011 probably expired for want of getting debate time...

    Senator Terry Leyden said, “There is currently no central registration process for keeping track of the details of wills that have been made. The current system involves solicitors holding wills in their own possession without any central authority knowing about the existence of a will. This is problematic as the details of a will often get lost when a solicitor ceases working.

    http://roscommondaily.com/2016/08/terry-leyden-registration-wills/

    http://www.oireachtas.ie/viewdoc.asp?DocID=33240&&CatID=59


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    #16
    Claw Hammer
    Registered Users Posts: 6,175 ✭✭✭Claw Hammer


    loobylou wrote: »
    It could not be done retrospectively, but why not commence one for new wills. Its obviously not in a testators interest that a will cannot be found after death so why, to would he/she not provide their personal details.
    The Law Society need not keep an actual copy of the will, just a reference to which solicitors office has a copy.
    I'm sure the family of a deceased person would be happy to pay a small fee, say 20euro for the info which would go towards covering costs.
    Same for title deeds too.
    It would cost a lot more than €20. If you do not have it for existing wills it would be years before it became of much use. You could also have solicitors who forgot to register a will destroying them to avoid the consequences of admitting to non-registration.


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    #17
    nuac
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 6,769 Mod ✭✭✭✭nuac


    Claw Hammer wrote: »
    It would cost a lot more than €20. If you do not have it for existing wills it would be years before it became of much use. You could also have solicitors who forgot to register a will destroying them to avoid the consequences of admitting to non-registration.



    Solicitors destroying wills?

    Would be regarded as most serious misconduct with very serious consequences


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    #18
    Claw Hammer
    Registered Users Posts: 6,175 ✭✭✭Claw Hammer


    nuac wrote: »
    [/B]

    Solicitors destroying wills?

    Would be regarded as most serious misconduct with very serious consequences
    Solicitors have done lots of things which amount to serious misconduct and which have had very serious consequences. Many solicitors have been struck off for stealing clients money, forging documents and other very serious wrongdoing. Would they stop short of destroying a will and insisting it was never made? Particularly when the only competent witness is dead? Look at what Ms. Heather Perrin did with wills.


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    #19
    tricky D
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,700 ✭✭✭tricky D


    Musketeer4 wrote: »
    Jubus, never mind the relative not being buried but the post mortem isn't even finalised and the OP is already rummaging through the house chasing after the will so see what they're getting! Classy.
    I have just started a process similar to the OPs situation and can tell you there's nothing unclassy about it at all. There are many other reasons apart from the already mentioned funeral preferences to locate the Will asap and some things have to be done immediately and others need to be done asap. Some of this might require the Will. Some institutions can be very unforgiving upon a relative's death. Being wary of falling too far into the advice area, I strongly suggest you call a solicitor for a chat for proper advice on these matters.
    nuac wrote: »
    [/B]Solicitors destroying wills?

    Would be regarded as most serious misconduct with very serious consequences
    Just off the phone to my relative's solicitor and as we are using some one else I asked about the copy of the Will he has and he said he retains it to cover himself just in case anything happens in the future. Makes sense and seems fairly standard.


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