Finding a Will

[Citroënbender]

This is probably a really common situation but a quick surf just lurches to simpleton topics and money-grubbing adverts for estate challenges.

A family will was vested with a solicitor in Sydney who sold his practice and retired. The purchasing practice did not keep in touch re such documents stored, and subsequently merged with another practice or possibly closed up. I’m keen to either get a certified copy of the will, or the original, or reliable proof of its loss/destruction.

Has anyone here trod a similar path with success? Are there any legal industry bodies who can advise on historical transitioning of solicitors’ companies?

[Yellow_Festiva]

From what I understand they are not actually registered anywhere.

Have you tried to contact the solicitors directly??

Must happen quite often. Curious to see how you go.

[Citroënbender]

The first is long gone to G_d, so I can’t confirm anything with him. And the succeeding business I only have word-of-mouth naming for. But also long gone, this is from almost 40 years ago.

[aussiblue]

The relevant State Law Society may be able to help you and it certainly won't hurt to contact them including all the information you have however limited it may be. They usually keep a record of who takes over whose practice. For NSW see https://www.lawsociety.com.au/contact-us

[aussiblue]

Worth searching here https://theaustralianregistry.com.au...egistry/search you never know you may be lucky and a basic search is free.

[4wdsteve]

Bank safe? My oldmans will was in the bank safe with the title to the house until the state bank Victoria closed and sent it to him some how, 2 years after his estate was settled i found his will as it was 40 years old it wasn't worth anything as it didn't leave everything to me so it was disregarded lol.
Check his bank if you haven't all ready that was the custom once to put the will in the safe with the title to the house.

[Citroënbender]

I don’t think it would have been in bank storage, there’s no reason to doubt the story of being drawn and vested with the solicitor. But as a teenager when all this was going on, I had negligible interest in the morbid projections of older people - so never followed it closely. Title deeds - let’s just say “”…

Going to try the Law Society first.

[PhilT2]

Is it your own will you are seeking? If it is not then I don't know that you would be allowed access to it unless the owner is deceased and you are an executor of it.
My siblings and I handled my mum's will without a lawyer, it was a fairly simple process. We were required to place an ad in the state law journal to ensure there were no other claimants or another will by her. If your state has an equivalent journal that may be worth a try, just be aware their fees are significant.
My mum had left her will in storage at her bank; they just required a copy of the death certificate and proof that the request came from an executor named in the will before handing it over. She had told us where it was and left clear instructions who was getting what. It's really helpful to your next of kin to do this; I recommend it even if you're not planning to go just yet.

[Citroënbender]

I would likely be the executor, the scriptor is not yet deceased but has asked me to find out where it may be vested - they lack facility to ably pursue such matters.

[PhilT2]

Another thing to consider is that if locating the existing will proves difficult it may be easier to write a new one. As long as there hasn't been a diagnosis of dementia or similar.
We all leave these things too late.

[sgt_doofey]

Maybe check with the Public Trustee to see if the will was transferred there.

[mondeomatureguy]

Hi Guys,
This may be off topic but some times us guys take a while to get around to do things and some of these things are very important.

1st When i got divorced the first thing i did was change my will just in case something happened to me.
My ex wife already got the house and i didn't want her getting her hands on my superannuation also.

2nd. The late Peter Brock had a will but he never signed it. When he passed away it had to go thru the Courts to work things out and it took a lot of time.

[5thFordWA]

Originally Posted by PhilT2

Another thing to consider is that if locating the existing will proves difficult it may be easier to write a new one. As long as there hasn't been a diagnosis of dementia or similar.
We all leave these things too late.

Agree entirely.
If you hit a dead end trying to find the original, and the person is still alive and of "sound mind" then I believe that any new will he/she signs would completely supersede any previous will/wills. And with changes in marital situations, children growing up, grandchildren, etc, any 40 year old will is likely to be well out of date to the person's current wishes.

Seems this situation is more common than I thought. In an attempt to do something properly (as advised by all and sundry) about 25 years ago my wife and I had a solicitor acquaintance draw up our wills and hold them for safe keeping.
About 10 years later, without warning, they were posted to us with advice the business was no longer handling wills. At least they sent them back to us. As they were by then outdated as our children had grown up, I redid the wills myself and left copies with my now adult children.

Cheers.

[Citroënbender]

I agree that writing a new will could possibly resolve issues, there is the moral dimension though of attempting to fulfil a request that has been made.

Originally Posted by Citroënbender

they lack facility to ably pursue such matters.

If they're mentally unwell and they get another will done, you may have people come out of the woods trying to say he/she wasn't of capacity so the will isn't valid.

If there has been any suggestion by doctors that their faculties are declining to the point where an enduring power of attorney could make decisions on their behalf, then it's possibly too late to consider making a new will. If their health hasn't yet reached that point then that's what I'd be doing, getting a new will created and have the solicitor make note of their perceived capacity at the time.

[BENT_8]

Look under your bathroom scales, apparently where theres a will theres a weigh..

I'll let myself out..

[Tonz]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

Look under your bathroom scales, apparently where theres a will theres a weigh..

I'll let myself out..

lock the door after you have left....

[.:4:.]

If a will cannot be found and said person is still alive, if said person has been deemed mentally unfit, their legal guardian can change/sign off on a will. Also take control of said persons finances. As of January this year i finished court proceedings for my dads estate as his guardian did, or tried to do, the dodgey only a few months before he passed. Im not going to get into the nitty gritty about it, but the courts favoured my claim. But different states have different laws. From my understanding, nsw is the only state with family provision laws for example.
The one attempted dirty tactic from the other side was running up the legal fees so id back down. So i got my legal team to get the courts to freeze assets and i ran the fees up. And no, none of this was an argument between my siblings and myself. We came out on top.

[Citroënbender]

They’re not mentally unfit - well, no more so than before - but admit incapability of diligently pursuing this quest of “Where did it go?”. My brief stops with either a letter saying “Yes, it’s here” or “All unclaimed documents were destroyed”.

I’ve contacted the Law Society, hopefully they can advise.

[.:4:.]

Originally Posted by Citroënbender

They’re not mentally unfit - well, no more so than before - but admit incapability of diligently pursuing this quest of “Where did it go?”. My brief stops with either a letter saying “Yes, it’s here” or “All unclaimed documents were destroyed”.

I’ve contacted the Law Society, hopefully they can advise.

Mate, i was just giving a breif recap of what my experience was. Although surely there would have to be a database for legal documentation. I suspect things can only be released to the person or guardian.

[Citroënbender]

That isn’t a problem, at this point there is no need (for me at least) to have the document. Simply to find out where it is, if it still exists.

A parallel is a land title search, like you can find a titleholder.

Originally Posted by Citroënbender

That isn’t a problem, at this point there is no need (for me at least) to have the document. Simply to find out where it is, if it still exists.

A parallel is a land title search, like you can find a titleholder.

That sort of thing doesn't really exist for wills, it's not a given that it would be registered somewhere.
I also had to go through it recently and only managed to find it because it was done at the same solicitor the enduring power of attorney was done at, so the solicitor's name was on that paperwork.

If the beneficiaries/executor of a will doesn't know where to find a copy of the will, you effectively don't have a will.
You could try the same process that family use when someone passes away and they don't know where the will is: https://attwoodmarshall.com.au/how-d...-someone-dies/

What's happened to the place that bought the practise the will was created at? When you say they either merged with another or closed down, have you confirmed which one it is? Do you know their name?

[Citroënbender]

No, unfortunately, I don’t. It would be much simpler if I did.

I honestly wonder if this stuff will get harder, not easier, as it moves increasingly into an wholly digital age.

[Citroënbender]

Paydirt.

Law Society didn’t bother responding.

It was suggested to me that I look for near-contemporaries of the deceased solicitor. First call, not a lot of interest in being helpful, just a chuckle and “He’s been gone a long time. Don’t think there was much to hand over”… I gently pressed a little more and the speaker suggested another practice “They’ve been around a while”.

Tried that one, “Yes, he transferred his practice to us”. Wills confirmed vested, job done.

[Citroënbender]

Addendum - finally, a reply from the Law Society.

They accurately advised about the transfer of practice, referring me to the current firm who hold the documents.

[George V]

May be they are AFF members too.