How to search for a missing will in England and Wales, check solicitors and probate records, use PA13 and prove a copy under rule 54.
This guide is part of ProbateHelp's Probate Process guide cluster. Estimated reading time: 12 min.
No. A will generally becomes public through the England and Wales probate record after a grant is issued. Private registration services exist, but absence from a private register does not prove that no will was made.
The online probate record appears after a grant. If the person died recently and no grant is visible, GOV.UK provides a PA1S standing search that can send the record if a grant is issued during the next six months.
Potentially. HMCTS considers evidence about the document's contents, execution, loss and possible revocation. Personal applicants can use form PA13 with the probate application; practitioners follow the rule 54 evidence procedure. Acceptance is not automatic.
Not always. A rebuttable presumption can arise where an original last known to be in the will-maker's possession cannot be found at death. The facts about storage, access, statements, copies and searches matter. A document lost by a solicitor or in the post presents a different evidential picture.
There is no universal two-week or four-week rule. The search should be proportionate to the evidence and estate, and a later will can disrupt a grant or distribution. Record the enquiries and obtain advice before making an intestacy application where there are signs of a will.
Preserve messages and other evidence and take specialist advice. Sections 122 and 123 of the Senior Courts Act 1981 allow the High Court to require examination or production of a testamentary document in appropriate cases; rule 50 provides a related probate-registry procedure before a probate claim.