How Long Must A Solictor Keep Notes With A Will ?

[CW1]

Hi,
The notes made when solicitors drew up a will in 2003 were destroyed by that solicitor in 2010. The person making the will died this year & one of the sons is contesting the will.
How long should the solicitor keep the notes, and have they been negligent in destroying them before the person even died ? The son has always said he'd contest it though the solicitor wouldn't have known that.
Thanks

[Peter Pedant]

Hi Barmaid - nice to see you posting

yes I can see that causation is gonna be a real bug bear

[CW1]

When the will was made the mother said to my other half his siblings "would have to have something" if he were to continue living in the house after her death, which he agreed. He gave her a figure he could raise & that's in the will to be split between the 3 siblings within a year after her death. It seems now that it's being contested on the assumption that that amount was related to the value of the house at the time the will was made. That was never the case & the will doesn't mention that. The brother's saying that as the will was made over 10 years ago, the lump sum to be split should be raised to reflect the value of the house now. He's also wrongly assumed that money would be raised by mortgaging the house. This is why notes would be handy as that would all probably have been included in them.

Several solicitors have given advice now & pretty much all of them have said keeping any notes indefinitely in the event of this kind of situation is good practice. There's no need to destroy them when there's a very good chance they could be useful - the older brother said from the day the will was written he'd be contesting it.

[Barmaid]

A will speaks from death unless there is a contrary intention expressed on the face of the will.