Solicitor has lost/mislaid will.

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peking97

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Anyone know what happens to a person's estate when a solicitor has lost or mislaid the will?
 
Need more information than that.

Is the a copy of the signed will anywhere?

Is Solicitor agreeing to having lost it? Or does Solicitor say no I gave it to Testator etc...

If it can be proven that Solicitor has lost the will as opposed to the Testator having been given it and now it can't be found AND if the contents of the will can be proven e.g by a photocopy f signed will or by solicitor saying I've lost it, don't have copy but this is exactly what it said THEN depending on all circumstances it may be possible to prove/ probate the will by application to the High Court.

I've seen it done in the case of a will lost by solicitor but where solr had a photocopy of will. BUT it depends on all relevant circumstances
 
I presume the Testator is deceased ?

The solicitor may have a copy on his computer. He needs to double check all the wills in his fire safe.

Was it a complex will, if not, intestacy rules might solve the issue. In all likelyhood the Testator was given a photocopy, you have to search for this. Might even have been sent by emails, so dates when it was drafted might be helpful.
 
The testator is indeed deceased and the will was made only a few weeks before he died. It would not be a complex will. Apparently the solr admits to having lost it but a softcopy is available on his computer system. There would, of course, be no signatures on the softcopy.
 
If the solicitor admits to losing it then he/ she can bring a Motion to the High Court setting out the circumstances of the loss and asking the Court for an order allowing for the will to be probated.

Every case is different but if Solicitor says "I lost it and this unsigned copy is identical to the lost signed one then" the Solicitor should be instructed to take a Motion to the Court. these things are dealt with by a Judge dealing one morning with all sorts of probate issues. this type of thing has happened before and can be resolved.

Solicitor should of course be responsible for cost of high court motion which will probably involve a Barrister drafting a Notice of Motion and Affidavit and then going before Judge.

The solicitor may not be aware of how to solve the problem assuming they have never come across this before but like I said there is a solution.
 
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