What to do if you can't find the will
Last reviewed September 2026 by Naomi Jackson
Short answer
A missing will is common and usually solvable. Wills are rarely lost, they're just held somewhere the family doesn't know about. Search properly before you conclude there wasn't one, because the difference for who inherits can be total.
Where wills actually are
Work through these in order. Most are found in the first three.
The solicitor who drafted it, look through old correspondence, address books and bank statements for a firm's name and a payment. If the firm has closed or merged, the Law Society can tell you who took over its files, and Scotland has the Law Society of Scotland equivalent.
A bank or a will storage company, check for annual storage fees leaving the account. Their own home, look in a safe, a filing cabinet, with the deeds, or with insurance documents. The Probate Service's own storage in England and Wales, wills can be deposited with HMCTS during someone's lifetime and searched for after death.
Get your next steps in order
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Get my checklistRun a National Will Register search
The National Will Register (Certainty) is the recognised central database, and it also runs a 'missing will search' that notifies solicitors' firms in the area the person lived. Many firms register their clients' wills there.
A search costs in the region of £40 to £100 depending on the type. It is worth doing before you apply for Letters of Administration on the basis of intestacy, because a will that surfaces afterwards can undo the whole administration.
If you find a copy but not the original
There's a legal presumption that if the original was last known to be with the person who made it and can't be found, they destroyed it intending to revoke it. That presumption can be rebutted with evidence, for example that the will was stored elsewhere, or that they spoke about it recently as if it stood.
Admitting a copy to probate requires an application supported by witness statements explaining what happened to the original and confirming the copy is complete. It is a specialist application, get a solicitor.
If there really is no will
The estate passes under the intestacy rules, which set a fixed order of who inherits with no discretion. The closest relative applies for Letters of Administration rather than a grant of probate, and becomes the administrator.
The key trap: unmarried partners inherit nothing under intestacy, however long the relationship. They may have a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, which normally has to be brought within six months of the grant.
Before you conclude there's no will
Do all of these and keep a written record of each search, you may need to evidence it:
- Search the home thoroughly, including with the deeds and insurance papers
- Ask every solicitor the person is known to have used
- Check for storage fees on bank statements going back several years
- Run a National Will Register search and a missing will notification
- Ask HMCTS whether a will was deposited with the Probate Service
- Ask the executors named in any earlier draft, they're often told first
Frequently asked questions
Can I open a will I find before probate?
Yes. There is no rule against reading it. Don't remove staples, unpin anything or write on it, the probate registry treats marks and missing attachments as evidence that a page has been taken out.
What if a will turns up after we've distributed the estate?
The estate may have to be redistributed to follow the will. Beneficiaries who received money under intestacy can be required to return it. This is exactly why a will search before applying is worth the fee.
Does the Probate Service hold a copy of every will?
Only after a grant is issued, at which point the will becomes a public document and anyone can order a copy. Before a grant, only wills specifically deposited for safekeeping are held.
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Get my checklistCheck if you need probate
Check if you need probateMore guides in this series
What happens if there's no will (intestacy) in the UK
If someone dies without a will in the UK, the intestacy rules decide who inherits. Here's the order, and where it differs in Scotland.
Being executor when the will is contested
What a challenge to a will actually stops, the deadlines that matter, how a caveat works, and how an executor stays neutral and protected.
When an estate has more debts than money
An insolvent estate has a strict legal order for paying debts. Pay the wrong creditor first and the executor can be personally liable. Here's the order.
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Probate explained
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