Missing will services

Finders International is delighted to be sponsoring this year’s Annual Society of Will Writers Conference that takes place on 11-12 October at the Hilton East Midlands Airport.

As gold level sponsors, we’re looking forward to a great event that will bring together the industry’s best minds and most experienced professionals to talk about recent developments and what the future looks like for will writing practitioners.

Finders International’s package of professional probate genealogy services includes legal support services that can help solicitors and other legal professionals with matters such as searches for missing wills, unclaimed assets, dormant balances, finding the documents required for probate, and checks for bankruptcy all over the world.

Private executors

These services can also be offered to private executors of an estate.

If you instruct us to find a missing will, for example, in cases of intestacy or if you hold a will but are unsure whether it is up to date or not, then we can help with our thorough and inexpensive searches.

We only take on searches once you have satisfied yourself that the deceased’s personal belongings have been checked, and that you have asked any known friends, relatives or neighbours of the deceased if they know of the existence of a will.

Unique service

The missing will service we operate is unique to Finders and one of the most thorough searches available to legal practitioners. For instance, we don’t rely on email-only requests, and will follow up with phone calls as necessary because email requests are too easy to miss or risk ending up in junk mail folders.

We follow a procedure where we:

1. Check with the deceased’s bank(s), building societies and accountants
2. Write to all solicitors based in the area where the deceased lived and/or in any other specific area you request
3. Check the depository of the Principal Registry of the Family Division
4. Contact members of the Institute of Professional Will Writers and Society of Will Writers based in the area that was the deceased’s last known address and/or any other specific area you request
5. Contact other relevant professional bodies as necessary or upon request
6. Search the relevant additional databases, including any online Will registration services, such as Certainty will searches.

We compile reports of all the searches made and what we discovered. Once our search is complete and a will has not been found, we can apply for an Aviva insurance policy to protect against the possibility of a will turning up after the estate has been distributed, which can add greatly to peace of mind and is something we highly recommend.

Our missing will service includes local searches, but there may be cases where a much wider search is needed that can include several towns, cities and counties and we’re happy to quote for an extension of the search if this is deemed necessary.