Will & Testament

[jamiedodger]

Not sure if this is very PC asking this question, but I'll ask anyway. One of my partner's close friends died recently and it is highly likely that he was in her will. This lady didn't really have any family, except a daughter who my partner and her have never seen eye to eye. Just wondering, if he is in her will, how will he find out about it? Could the daughter throw the will away if she sees that he is in it, because being the next of kin surely she would get everything then? Or wouldn't she be able to get her hands on it anyway, does a will get sent to a solicitor for safekeeping or something? I didn't really want to ask this, my bloke is like "Oh I don't want her money, she's welcome to it"...but y'know, these questions need answering. Any info would be appreciated.

[Dassie]

If she left a Will ( not everybody remembers to make one ) then it depends who is the Executor of the Will. In this case probably either the daughter or the solicitor where she compiled her Will. She will then have to notify the solicitor of the death so he can then apply for Probate ( proving the will ) through the Courts after which "distribution" of the assets can take place.
A death must be notified to the Registrar and if she didn't leave a will a solicitor must then deal with an "Intestate" estate where it will be decided on who gets what through a "pecking order" so to speak.
So if she left a Will your friend will just have to wait and see if he is contacted by the executor/solicitor as a beneficiary of the Will and if no Will then he probably won't receive anything because it will normally go to family only. Either way it must be dealt with and cannot just be ignored.

[dzug]

Unfortunately the daughter can just throw the will away if it's in her possession if she doesn't like the look of it and stand a good chance of getting away with it. She would have to swear before a court that there was no will, though, before she could get her hands on anything other than trivial sums herself.

The chances of this happening with a solicitor involved are near zero.