"'My cousin helped out our uncle and says he was promised the farm but we'd like to know for sure. Can we trace old records or notes? Query: My uncle, a bachelor farmer, recently died. He was a quiet man but had mentioned to some family members several years ago that he had made a will. We are now in difficulty'"
"because the solicitors' firm he dealt with says it has no record of it. The firm has changed hands a few times over the years, and while they acknowledge they advised him previously, they say it's not feasible to trace old records or notes from when he may have made his will."
A bachelor farmer recently died having told family years earlier that he had made a will. The solicitor firm he used now says it has no record and that tracing old files is not feasible after changes in firm ownership. Immediate steps include searching Probate Registry and national will registers, checking the deceased's papers, home, safety-deposit boxes, banks, accountants, land agents, and the Land Registry for ownership details. Contact predecessor firms, the Law Society or Solicitors Regulation Authority for archived files. If no will appears, intestacy rules apply and affected parties may explore claims such as proprietary estoppel or statutory provision claims within strict time limits.
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