Spins4me Posted May 30, 2009 Report Share Posted May 30, 2009 I've found an empty envelope marked "Copy Of Will and it's dated November 1995. There was a letter with it from her solicitor saying the original is in his safe. I rang the solicitior and it can't be found. They reckon "someone else" (who FFS?) has taken it. Makes me wonder what their system is - any old person walks in off the street and asks for a will and they hand it over? What I'm now wondering is what happens if it isn't found? Does anyone know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
louisebt Posted May 30, 2009 Report Share Posted May 30, 2009 Surely there should be more than 1 copy?... when nan passed in march, and gramps 4 years previously, we had copies of the will, they had copies at home and when we went to get the copy from solicitors we had to sign for it, plus take ID in, maybe worth checking if who ever took it had to sign?... hope you sort it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merledogs Posted May 31, 2009 Report Share Posted May 31, 2009 What a useless solicitor Hopefully there will be a copy somewhere in your mother's effects. Have a look here and here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houndzrus Posted May 31, 2009 Report Share Posted May 31, 2009 I hope you find a copy, what a nightmare for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruthi (borrowadog) Posted May 31, 2009 Report Share Posted May 31, 2009 Unless the solicitor can produce a receipt for the will, they have been negligent. Contact the Law Society. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rufus the wonderdog Posted May 31, 2009 Report Share Posted May 31, 2009 I would go back to the solicitor, with the letter you have, and demand that they recheck their safe for the will. If it has been stored for a while, some solicitors use a central repository for documents, and it may be that it is stored elsewhere. They should know this !!!!! If not, resort to the Law Society for further advice. So sorry you're having all this hassle at this time - we had similar stuff when my dad died. to you and hang in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReikiAnge Posted May 31, 2009 Report Share Posted May 31, 2009 No advice but I'm very sorry you're having this to deal with right now, I hope the solicitor gets their act together and sorts this out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spins4me Posted May 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2009 Thanks for the links and advice and for listening. I'll be on a stronger footing when I go to the solicitor to make a bit of a fuss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redditchlady Posted May 31, 2009 Report Share Posted May 31, 2009 Oh crikey, you are having a rough enough time of it at the moment without this additional worry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranirottie Posted May 31, 2009 Report Share Posted May 31, 2009 thats awful. Surely they must have a record of the "someone" who took the will ! Good luck x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackmagic Posted May 31, 2009 Report Share Posted May 31, 2009 Did your mum use any other solicitor. Our wills are no longer held by the solicitor that we used when they were made, although we do have copies at home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazz Posted May 31, 2009 Report Share Posted May 31, 2009 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spins4me Posted May 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2009 Did your mum use any other solicitor. Our wills are no longer held by the solicitor that we used when they were made, although we do have copies at home. Mum only used this one because he would come to the house to do the will. Her original solicitor had a first floor office but by the time Mum needed to do the "lost" will she was unable to climb stairs and the solicitor didn't do home visits. We used him again when Mum developed dementia and I had to take over looking after her money etc through the Public Guardianship Office. It should have taken a few months to sort it out but he took a year and by that time we were thousands of pounds in debt to the care home. Let's say I wouldn't recommend him to anyone. What a git! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spins4me Posted July 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2009 I am SO fed up with all this. I have had a copy of Mum's will back from the Public Guardianship Office. It is a copy of the original signed will. The solicitor told me that the PGO would be holding the original will. The PGO told me that they don't keep originals, only copies. One of the the problems here is that I have such a lousy memory. When I was originally looking for the will I didn't remember sending the copy to the PGO. I rang them to see if they had it and when they said they had I was very relieved. In the meantime the solicitor rang me and said he hadn't got the original and that's what the PGO had. I just thought I must have been to get it and forgotten. I did ask him if he kept a record of who had collected it but he dodged the question, just kept insisting that it was at the PGO. It's taken more than 4 weeks to get back to where I was at the beginning. I'm going to ask the solicitor again and if he still says he hasn't got the will and still dodges the question, "If you haven't got it, can you tell me who took it from your office?" I'm going to make a complaint about him to the Solicitors Regulation Authority. No idea what I'll do if it has disappeared. Everyone I'm dealing with wants to see the original not a copy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pingu Posted July 5, 2009 Report Share Posted July 5, 2009 http://www.legalcomplaints.org.uk/home.page dont give them yet another chance complain now, there are time limits for complaints Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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