Do I have a legal right to see a will?

When a loved one passes away, one of the first questions that may arise is whether you have the legal right to see their will. This can be particularly important if you are a potential beneficiary or if you have concerns about the fairness of the distribution of the estate.

Who can see the will? 

Wills are private documents until a grant of probate has been obtained by the executors. At this point, they become public documents, and can be downloaded from the probate registry website. The ability to access a will (before it is made public) depends primarily upon your position within the estate.

Executors are entitled to access the will because of their appointment and their duty to administer the estate. Executors may choose to provide beneficiaries with a copy of the will or explain the terms, but they have no legal duty to do so. 

If you are not a beneficiary of the will, then you do not have any standing to access the will, subject to any claims you may have in relation to the estate or will itself. There is a common misconception that if you believe you are a beneficiary of an estate, then you are entitled to have sight of a copy of the will. However, this is not the case.

Beneficiaries are not automatically entitled to view the will. If you are a beneficiary, you will usually be informed of the nature and extent of the gift you should expect to receive. The executor can decide whether or not they will provide a beneficiary with a copy of the will while it remains a private document before the grant of probate is obtained.

There is also a misconception, often seen in films and TV shows, that there is a “reading of a will” when someone dies. This rarely happens, as there is usually no formal reading of the will.

While there is no automatic right to view a will, there are specific circumstances where you may be able to access it.

How can I access a will?

There are several options available to people who are seeking to obtain a copy of a will:

• Ask the executor: it is often the case that executors will provide the will upon request, albeit they are not obliged to do so.
• Probate Registry: once the Grant of Probate has been received, anyone can apply to the Probate Registry to obtain a copy of the will. There is a small fee of £1.50 to download the copy.
• Larke v Nugus request: this is a formal request that one can make to solicitors to request a copy of the will file and pose questions relating to the circumstances surrounding the preparation of the will. Whilst the approval of the executors to the will is required before the solicitors can respond, the use of a Larke v Nugus request often leads to the release of a will.
• An application to court: depending upon the circumstances, it may be possible to make an application to the court seeking disclosure of the will. 

When should an executor permit the release of a will?

Whilst executors may not be under an obligation to release the will, they will often do so if they consider it appropriate in the circumstances, for example, to avoid litigation or to appease family members who may wish to have certainty on their position.