Will made in 1970's

[CYNthesys]

Is there any way of finding out if an old will has been revoked, and replaced with a new will?
Solicitor acting as executor asked why they were not made aware of this old will earlier, seems they didn't know of its existence and requested a copy if available. Solicitor wrote "due to the nature of the assets held it has not been necessary to obtain a Grant of Probate to enable the administration of the estate". Whilst I realise that named beneficiaries of eg pensions and some trusts bypass probate, would this suggest that the deceased's affairs have already been settled? . Probate searches and Gazette notices have not produced any results.

[PallasAthena]

Sounds like there are two different issues. (1) Can the alleged 1970s Will be found and (2) did the deceased make a later Will. Is that the situation?

Is there any reason to believe the deceased had made a new Will that would have revoked and replaced the 1970s will? Did they tell someone they had for example? Had someone in the family seen it?

Did the deceased say there was a 1970s Will and where it might be? Has anyone seen it?

Presumably the family and/or the solicitors have searched through the deceased's papers and found nothing of relevance.

If not, and if there is no evidence on the Probate Search site or in the Gazette, have you tried a search at The National Will Register company? (Not, as its name might suggest, an official organisation, just a private company that will do searches for a fee.)

If all those routes turn up nothing your conclusion is likely to be that there never was any such Will. The 1970s Will, if it can be found, may therefore be a valid Will (subject to usual rules on revocation through remarriage etc).

Wills are private documents unless and until used for Probate so people do not have to record a Will's existence or register it anywhere while still alive.

You'd need to ask the solicitors where they have got to with the administration of the Estate. Are they part way through administering it as an intestate estate but have now been alerted to the possible existence of a Will? If so I imagine they will pause estate distribution while searches are made for the 1970s Will.

[CYNthesys]

Thank you for your speedy reply.

First of all the executor has been provided with the name of the solicitor and the name and address of the solicitors office where it was made.

The deceased never married. Deceased's only relatives were 2 cousins, one of whom had passed away, the other suffers from dementia.

The deceased was in a long term relationship when the will was made, naming their partner as sole beneficiary. Do not know if deceased made a new will when relationship ended.

The deceased passed away in 2025 and beneficiary only learnt of their death a few months ago.

Don't know how far the solicitors have got in administrating the deceased's estate, they seem a little "cagey" and are asking why they weren't alerted to this earlier.

[PallasAthena]

So is the issue here that if the 1970s Will can be found and is valid (and no subsequent Will can be discovered) the whole estate will go to the deceased's previous partner. But otherwise the estate will be intestate and intestacy rules applied so that the unmarried partner will get nothing. Is that your understanding?

A quick check on the government intestacy site [Check who can apply for probate and inherit if someone dies without a will - GOV.UK] suggests that under intestacy rules the surviving cousin would inherit either the entire estate, or share it with the children of the deceased cousin if there were any. Unmarried partners are not entitled to inherit under intestacy rules. The surviving cousin's dementia does not affect their right to inherit.

I assume you mean the solicitor's office is the one where the 1970s Will was made. It's a starting point, although after 50 years unlikely to be straightforward.

[CYNthesys]

Yes the existence of the old will is the issue, and whether or not it was subsequently revoked.
Yes the solicitor's office name and address where it was made was provided.
The deceased had a good occupational pension and life insurance, not sure if they included a named beneficary , not aware of any trusts