[Closed] Wills - who knows where they are if you die ?

with your solicitor hopefully, or under the bed miles away from your porn stash

unless of course your porn stash is left to someone in your will. then your best mate will probably find it.

LOL -)

but my kids don't know who the solicitor is. Ok, relatives could rake through our files in the cupboard and find them, but I wondered if there was a simple way.

Porn under the bed - no way with 8yr old and 5 yr old boys- it would be ruined 😆

is there a central registry somewhere

There should be, but I don't think there is (in England anyway). I went through all this last year when my dad died. My sister and I were convinced that he would have left a will, but we couldn't track it down anywhere. Much heartache caused.

say if I die, will everything automatically go to my wife?

If we both die will it all go to our son automatically?

{makes note to get will sorted]

Google "Probate law."

Warton - thats why we went and got wills done. Just find it a bit weird that they sit in a solicitors filing cabinet unbeknowns to my kids (who are too young) or the executors (me and wife's fathers) , who are both pretty old......

Best just to tell your nearest and dearest which solicitor holds your will, or keep your own copy in an obvious place in the house with a note of the solicitor's details. There isn't a central register where all wills get logged in Scotland.

There are often ads in legal journals looking for people who might hold wills etc for Mr X, but I suspect this approach isn't terribly successful.

I think the idea is that you make a will and then tell executors where it is held.

thanks all.

Something else that struck me as odd, is that if the executor (or person charged with finding a will) stands to gain more form probate than from the will, they could just "not find" it.

Grizla - I think that may be why they reccomend at least 2 executors

iainc - Member
Grizla - I think that may be why they reccomend at least 2 executors

Fair point.

[img] [/img]

😆

If you have got kids and you want to appoint them to look after them if you both die, tell them where the will is. Currently going to be looking after 8 kids if their parents die and I know where the wills are!

[url= http://www.urbandictionary.com/products.php?term=Porn%20Buddy&defid=1983637 ]Porn Buddy[/url]

Did you know that legally you and your wife cannot die simultaneously. If they cant work out who died first, then they assume the older one of you two did! 😯

Also:

Dr Spreeuw's research was based on an analysis of 11,454 life annuity policies held by a Canadian insurer.
In the study, 195 couples died at the same time.
In 1,048 cases the man died and the wife survived and in 255 couples the woman died and the husband survived.

So in the same time period of 195*2 + 255 + 1,048 = 1,693 death incidents, 23% of those deaths were simultaneously as couples. Wow, much higher proportion than I was expecting. Im sure my statisical analysis is flawed, but even so, in raw data terms that's quite a high number.

my grandad died recently. his will was kept at the bank. we all knew this.

he had also left three very well organised folders giving details of every bill, bank accounts & shares. Just on the shelf in the study - he had obviously getting ready!! very sad.

Yup as may before have said SOMEONE has to know! In England there is central registry however you have to PAY for them to store your wills. THey are also recommended they are kept in fireproof boxes as if you have the original wills (which me and Mr MC have) then it all vanishes in a fire ..that's also problematic! Both our executors know where our wills are but only we have copies, no-one else has any. Otherwise it is a case of advertising in law journals for solicitors to trawl their records.

Did you know that legally you and your wife cannot die simultaneously.

Why and how is that?

in England and possibly elsewhere in the United Kingdom for £15 you can deposit your will with the Probate (Court) Service in theory any Solicitor or other Executor should check if a will has been lodged with the Court

[url] http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/1218.htm [/url]

Did you know that legally you and your wife cannot die simultaneously.
Why and how is that?

"How?" - philosophically impossible since death occurs at an instance. Medically impossible as it's not something recorded to the second of smaller time frame.

And "Why?" - because legally you need a clear logical order of probate I imagine. You cant execute half a will each simultaneously and since husband and wife's wills can be fundamentally different the estate could end up in two very different places if it wasnt legally definitive which one died before the other.

My parents' solicitor has a copy, and they give me an updated file each Christmas with details of their solicitor, plus details of investments, bank accounts etc. Plus I know where copies of their wills and all their documents are.

My mum had to deal with all of that when her great aunt died after several years of declining mental health. It was a lot of hard work (and obviously distressing) so I think they're trying to make it as straight forward as possible.

Admittedly they did wait til I was 21 so maybe 8 is a bit young!

My parents send me a Xmas card with a copy of their will's........Kinda unsettled me TBH. Plus a copy at the Solicitors

most informative thread I have started for ages 🙂

Admittedly they did wait til I was 21 so maybe 8 is a bit young!

I also have a 16 yr old daughter from first marriage who is soon going to start Law at Uni - reckon she can take on the executor and other stuff soon !!!

I can act as executor of your estate. Rest assured your bikes will go to a loving home. Mwahahahah. 😆

aye right 😆

Re the OP point. To confirm, there is no central registry of wills in Scotland. When I was a solicitor in private practice winding up estates, which was a while back now, I always sent a copy of the completed will to the client when we kept the original making it clear where the original was held - our wills safe. It makes sense to tell the executors where the will is or at least the copy. Also, let the executors know they are going to be asked to do this. If you have young children make sure the people you want to be their guardians know and have agreed to that. Don't assume they will do it.

Stoner- your point about about both dying is wrong as a matter of law in Scotland. The situation is treated differently between spouses. There is no presumption about survial. I don't know about England. If a will is well drafted it should cover the common calamity situaton.

wrong as a matter of law in Scotland

to misquote Jeremy Hardy on the News Quiz last week "is that Scots law or real law?"

😉

anyway, how does:

The situation is treated differently between spouses. There is no presumption about survial

from http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/ihtmanual/IHTM12197.htm

Because IHTA84/S4 (2) applies only for the purposes of IHTA84/S4 (1) and does not affect the devolution of the estate, spouse or civil partner exemption [ IHTM11031] ( IHTM11032) under IHTA84/S18 is still available in England and Wales on property passing on death from the elder to younger spouse or civil partner.

although it does make the distinction between real law and scots law 🙂

the scottish variant:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/ihtmanual/IHTM12193.htm

Stoner - first point. Scots law is real law, it's the English version that's pants. Historically at least, but you lot have contaminated us. Painting with a very wide brush, we had principles, England had specific rules. So, if your actions did not fall foul of a specific rule in England it would require convoluted arguments to fit you up. In Scotland, if your actions are innovative but breach the principle then you can get done.

Between spouses it is assumed that they died simultaneously, and the estates are wound up effectively separately. An example - H and W die in a car crash. They leave the estates to each other failing which to charities. She leaves her estate to the cat charity, he leaves his to the dog charity. Both charities get money. If one is assumed to survive the other, say H survives W, on W's death he inherits and then both estates go to the dog charity.

In Scotland, if your actions are innovative but breach the principle then you can get done.

killjoys.

They leave the estates to each other failing which to charities. She leaves her estate to the cat charity, he leaves his to the dog charity. Both charities get money. If one is assumed to survive the other, say H survives W, on W's death he inherits and then both estates go to the dog charity.

English law seems eminently sensible there - I mean who leaves money to a cat charity? 🙂

cheers for the elaboration cd

cu dubh - many thanks for clarifying my OP - much appreciated. cheers

How do you define survived?

Surely if one dies 24hours later as a result of the same car crash its academic that the other died first, or is it based on them both being dead at the time of opening/reading the wills?