Wills now only £1.50! [Archive] - Genealogists' Forum

ElizabethHerts

23-07-19, 07:07

Your link doesn't work, Elizabeth.

Sorry!

I couldn't see anything about the price, so I chose my grandfather's will, added it to my basket and then viewed the basket, which indeed said it cost £1.50.

https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/#wills

This link is just for the search page.

JayG

23-07-19, 08:44

Thanks for posting about this Liza.

I've had a list of various wills I would be interested in since the probate index went online but couldn't justify the previous cost as they are all for none direct ancestors.

Now to find where i've put that list and order some!

ElizabethHerts

23-07-19, 08:51

I've just ordered 10 wills for £15!

It's great to be able to order wills for siblings of direct ancestors without worrying about the cost.

Just Gillian

23-07-19, 10:37

Thanks Elizabeth!!!

Now, where did I put that list......

Phoenix

23-07-19, 13:23

Why can I never remember which I want when I need them? But I have ordered the old lady from "Hull" (actually Hyde, Cheshire!)'s will.

Thank you so much, Elizabeth!

ElizabethHerts

24-07-19, 13:16

Order what you want in the next 12 months as the price might change again:

http://www.whodoyouthinkyouaremagazine.com/news/government-cuts-probate-record-cost-next-12-months

Mary from Italy

25-07-19, 01:37

Wow, that's interesting!

Kit

31-07-19, 02:28

Wow. I could spend a fortune.

I don't really need to feed the kids, do I? :rolleyes::rolleyes:

I don't know where I'd start. ;( :confused: :d

Kit

31-07-19, 03:21

Does ancestry have these records? It's so hard to search as the text is tiny.

Also how long does it usually take to process a will? I don't think many of my direct line actually had one.

Merry

31-07-19, 06:41

Toni, this is Ancestry's index:

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/ukprobatecal/

and then here it tells you how to order them etc:

https://www.gov.uk/wills-probate-inheritance/searching-for-probate-records

Kit

31-07-19, 07:40

Thanks Merry.

I can work out how to order one, I meant if there was a will long after the person died did it normally take to go through probate? I know it can take forever but in most cases, in the experience of those here, would it all be done within a year or two?

Merry

31-07-19, 08:05

If you know the year they died, then enter that and the entry should still come up even if probate was much later.

Kit

31-07-19, 08:32

Thanks. I thought I had to keep searching for several, or more, years afterwards. That makes it easier to work out there isn't a will.

kiterunner

31-07-19, 08:39

If you know the year they died, then enter that and the entry should still come up even if probate was much later.
Just to clarify - this is true if you're searching on ancestry, but not if you're searching on the government probate site (except for very recent years).

Kit

31-07-19, 13:24

Thanks Kate.

ElizabethHerts

06-08-19, 11:44

I ordered 15 wills on 23rd July, all with an expected delivery date of 7th August (tomorrow).

One arrived for downloading on 1st August (the most recent one, date 1983).

I'm still (impatiently) waiting for the other 14. I keep checking my e-mails!

Phoenix

06-08-19, 12:25

My three are due tomorrow too. Looking for great things from one of them.

ElizabethHerts

06-08-19, 12:36

I hope you get the information you are hoping for, Phoenix.

Phoenix

06-08-19, 13:27

And you, Elizabeth!

ElizabethHerts

06-08-19, 15:46

I have added some wills to my basket and in due course I shall order them.

I did smile at what appears on the page with my basket:

"You’ll be able to access the wills for 31 days.

Please allow 10 working days for your documents to be made available*

Wills are provided for personal use only: you must get the relatives’ permission if you want to publish them in any way."

Phoenix

06-08-19, 16:12

Lol!

But they presumably mean beneficiaries and any other person whose personal details might appear.

ElizabethHerts

06-08-19, 16:26

Yes, I think I know what they mean, but the bulk of wills I am buying are from well over 100 years ago and I don't think anyone connected with them is around to care!

I do remember my mother-in-law being very shocked when she realised that you can buy wills. She was most indignant and thought that they were private.

Lynn the Forest Fan

06-08-19, 19:00

I am very excited, as I have just ordered 2 wills, my mum's dad's (with her permission) and my great great grandma's. Just a shame i haven't found more yet, but I will keep looking at that price!

Olde Crone

06-08-19, 20:11

Surely wills are in the public domain and always have been? To prevent fraud, for one thing.

OC

ElizabethHerts

06-08-19, 20:29

Wills are fundamentally in the public domain. Newspaper often publish details of the latest wills and the bequests made. I remember my grandmother reading them, as well as the hatches, matches and dispatches.

Kit

07-08-19, 01:36

I searched my direct line for Dad's side and only found one will. I'm so disappointed.

I don't expect much better for Mum's and I've ordered the ones I really wanted/needed for OH years ago. His side will be just for nosey purposes for the main part.

Margaret in Burton

07-08-19, 09:33

I do remember my mother-in-law being very shocked when she realised that you can buy wills. She was most indignant and thought that they were private.

A few years back I put in for a standing search for an uncle of my husbands will for when it was published as he had recently died and my father in law was certain that nieces had persuaded his brother to alter his will in favour of them. He had no children and had promised to see the family ok. As it turned out father in law was right but we couldn’t prove any wrong doing.

When he tackled said nieces about it, holding the will in his hand as I had received it the day after it went to probate, they accused him of skulduggery in getting his hands on something they thought was private.

I think they still wonder how on Earth he got hold of it so quickly. He never told them I was behind it.

ElizabethHerts

08-08-19, 07:50

The estimated delivery date for all my wills was 7th August. One was added last Friday and no more have appeared yet, so 9 out of the 10 are now overdue.

I'm trying to be patient...

Four are for siblings of my great-great-grandmother, born Eliza Jeffcoat. I also ordered the will of her daughter by her first marriage.

Margaret in Burton

08-08-19, 10:46

I expect they’ve been inundated with applications due to the reduced price.

ElizabethHerts

08-08-19, 11:17

Yes, Marg, I think they were being overly optimistic with their predictions.

ElizabethHerts

09-08-19, 17:50

Interesting!

https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/probate-applications-suffer-further-delays-as-government-battles-with-backlog/5070606.article

ElizabethHerts

12-08-19, 09:33

I've ordered another 16 wills today. :o

They all have an estimated delivery date of 27th August, except for one, which has an EDD of 14th August. The reason for this is that the will in question is from 2018, so it seems that recent ones are being dealt with as priority.

Phoenix

20-08-19, 13:40

First will here! (in spam, naturally:rolleyes:)

Margaret in Burton

21-08-19, 21:22

Must be speeding up. I ordered a Will yesterday and received it today. When I ordered it said 10 working days.

Phoenix

22-08-19, 06:32

Ah, but what date was it? I suspect that the most recent wills are instantly accessible, probably without human intervention, and this is what has prompted the drop in price. Four weeks on, I'm still waiting for my third will, from the 1920s.

Margaret in Burton

22-08-19, 08:42

NickiP

22-08-19, 23:37

I ordered one on 26 July with estimated delivery of 10 August, still waiting.

I also suspect if by chance the Will has already been digitised then the delivery is quicker, just got to order one somebody else has wanted previously ..

Lynn the Forest Fan

23-08-19, 15:16

I think mine were due about 21st August, both from the 1900s but I am still waiting.

Phoenix

30-08-19, 13:31

Third will - due 10th August - now received. No surprises, alas.

ElizabethHerts

20-09-19, 09:24

Are people still waiting? No sign of any of my wills due in 27th August.

kiterunner

20-09-19, 09:44

The latest "Lost Cousins Newsletter" says they are taking a month at the moment, Elizabeth.

ElizabethHerts

20-09-19, 10:59

Thanks, Kate. I ordered them on 12th August.

kiterunner

20-09-19, 12:17

Well, the exact quote is "a month or more after the supposed delivery date".

Lynn the Forest Fan

20-09-19, 16:15

My delivery date was 21st August, but no sign of either

Chris in Sussex

20-09-19, 22:24

I ordered my first, at the new price, on the 27 July. It was due on the 11th August.

I'm still waiting:(

Chris

Kit

21-09-19, 00:07

So they have become flooded with orders.

I was going to order some for Christmas. If I order now, I might have them in time. :)

Lynn the Forest Fan

21-09-19, 06:37

I ordered my first, at the new price, on the 27 July. It was due on the 11th August.

I'm still waiting:(

Chris

That is really depressing Chris ;(

NickiP

21-09-19, 08:09

I ordered one on 26 July due 10th August and am also still waiting.

Sussex Maid

23-09-19, 11:30

I ordered 2 wills on 07 Sep both with a delivery date of 22 Sep - one was delivered 19 Sep and the other was delivered today - But I am still waiting for the three ordered 25 Jul due 09 Aug and the two ordered 20 Aug due 04 Sep.

Kit

25-09-19, 07:35

That's not good service at all. They should be doing them in order of receipt. Now you, and everyone else, has a reason to complain as it looks like orders prior to 7 September have been lost, or are being ignored.

(I am happy you got some of your orders though, don't get me wrong.)

Phoenix

25-09-19, 09:43

Toni, I stand to be corrected, but I think that the wills proved in the last twenty years or so can be accessed almost immediately, while the older ones take longer.

I also suspect that more recent wills will be regarded as "more relevant" than older ones, so the onus will be to get them out as quickly as possible.

The take-up rate has probably overwhelmed them.

ElizabethHerts

25-09-19, 10:24

I can understand that they are overstretched but I really do think that there ought to be some sort of announcement on the website informing us about the current situation and reassuring their customers that they will receive their wills in due course.

Merry

25-09-19, 12:25

What led to them reducing the price?

Sussex Maid

25-09-19, 12:45

Sorry, I should have mentioned that the two wills I received were proved in 1865 and 1885.

Phoenix

25-09-19, 13:17

Okay, I'm out of excuses :o

Can't even argue that they clear small orders before large ones, as mine were delivered individually, over a ten day period.

ElizabethHerts

25-09-19, 17:14

I e-mailed them this morning and the reply was in my inbox when we returned (from seeing Downton Abbey at the cinema) this afternoon.

This is the reply:

Dear Customer,

We are sorry that it has already taken us longer than 10 working days to send copies of your documents and that you had cause to make your complaint.

We know that our service hasn’t met with the time commitment we gave and that this is disappointing. We are experiencing very high demand for copies of wills, which means it is taking us significantly longer than usual to provide copies requested via gov.uk.

We are sorry for the inconvenience and the frustration that this delay is causing. Please be assured that we have your request and understand how important this is to you.

We are working hard to get the service back on track and to provide a more realistic timeframe for responding to requests for copies of wills when there is very high demand.

Kit

26-09-19, 09:52

That's a relief for you Eliza.

Just letting people know they were overwhelmed and the time frames have blown out is really all they need to do.

NickiP

03-10-19, 18:37

Well the Will I ordered on 26 July due 10 August finally turned up yesterday but they managed to provide an incomplete Will, there is at least one page missing so have now had to submit a query asking for the rest to be provided.

annswabey

03-10-19, 23:26

I've had the same problem, NickiP. They then sent me a Will which was totally different from the one I'd applied for and I'm still waiting for the one I'd ordered. Would rather have the higher priced service as before - at least they got it right!

Oakum Picker

04-10-19, 08:08

I e-mailed them this morning and the reply was in my inbox when we returned (from seeing Downton Abbey at the cinema) this afternoon.

You were lucky Liza, when I wrote at the beginning of September over a month after I'd applied, it took them 9 days to reply.

Working on Nicki's timescale, mine should be with me in the next few days, hopefully.

ElizabethHerts

04-10-19, 08:33

Glen, did you use the contact form on the website? If you sign in to your account it gives you a drop-down menu where your order numbers appear.

I would imagine they have at least organised a fast reply to that contact method, even if everyone gets the same standard response.

NickiP

09-10-19, 00:34

Lynn the Forest Fan

09-10-19, 15:54

I emailed them yesterday about the 2 I ordered in August.

Oakum Picker

10-10-19, 15:03

Hi Liza,

Yes I did use the contact form and still no sign of mine ordered Jul 30. I'll give them until the end of next week, then try again if nothing is forthcoming in the meantime.

Chris in Sussex

11-10-19, 19:15

Still waiting for the one I ordered on the 27th July.....Not so patiently now :(

Oakum Picker

14-10-19, 17:22

Just received the first of the 16 wills I ordered due Aug 14. No sign of the rest.

Kit

15-10-19, 11:09

Only 2 months late. This is not looking good for them being kept at the cheaper price.

Kit

15-10-19, 12:41

Which will do I order?

Christiana Emmett had 2 entries on the national probate calendar. 1876 and 1881. The 1881 said it was left unprobated by her sister but the 1876 will says her sister was granted probate. There are different amounts left in the 2, the second being lower than the first.

If I order the second entry will I get the details of the first as well?

kiterunner

16-10-19, 10:29

I can't see either of the entries under that name, but I should think you would get details of both, yes.

Kit

17-10-19, 00:00

Thanks Kate. After I posted I realised the spellings were not what I wrote for the probate. The entries were Emett. The spelling changed with the number of Ms and Ts varying and occassionally the second e was an o. Emmett is what is preferred in my tree as it was the first way I came across Christiana.

Oakum Picker

17-10-19, 16:17

Have now received all but 4 of my wills.

NickiP

20-10-19, 08:27

Well I contacted them via the form over 2 weeks ago and still no response, so shall try again. Be nice to get a complete Will.:rolleyes:

ElizabethHerts

25-10-19, 13:33

My first will of 15 ordered on 12th August has now arrived! All 15 pages of it!

The testator was a lawyer, which accounts for the verbosity of the testament. I could summarise it very briefly...

NickiP

26-10-19, 13:39

I finally received a reply to the contact us form on 23 October, 20 days after sending it. Now we'll see how long it takes them to provide the full Will.

NickiP

02-11-19, 11:42

Finally received the full Will via an email yesterday. Only one extra page but how they missed that off originally does make you wonder.:confused:

Lynn the Forest Fan

03-11-19, 07:34

I now have both the ones I ordered. Is anyone still waiting?

ElizabethHerts

03-11-19, 08:02

All my wills came in a rush. However, I'm about to order another batch!

Jill

03-11-19, 16:45

Is anyone still waiting?

Me! Ordered 25th July, was due 9th August.

ElizabethHerts

03-11-19, 16:51

How many, Jill? That's very poor.

Jill

03-11-19, 17:11

Just this one outstanding, for quite a well off bachelor whose sisters had both died, he had a niece but her surname was too common for me to have found a marriage for her, I certainly wouldn't have ordered if it had been the previous price!

ElizabethHerts

03-11-19, 17:22

I hope it arrives in the next day or two, Jill.
It sounds as though it could be an interesting one!

I ordered a lot that I wouldn't normally have bought. All the siblings (8) in one of OH's lines left wills and I bought all their wills. They were actually very interesting. Harriet Anne Newton, who married a half-brother of Dr. Barnardo, nominated OH's grandfather as executor and main beneficiary (they had no children).

Chris in Sussex

05-11-19, 15:44

I am still waiting on one ordered on the 27th July but have received the two I ordered on the 31st August:confused:

Sussex Maid

05-11-19, 17:10

I am still waiting for 2 ordered 25 July and 1 ordered 20 August but have just received three ordered 23 September.

Kit

06-11-19, 03:45

I'm putting in my order soon for Christmas but I suspect my birthday or Easter might be more accurate.

So glad most of you have your wills now.

Kit

10-12-19, 07:13

Soon is a relative term. I have just placed my order, thanks Dad for my Christmas present, and the estimated delivery date is 25th December.

After you all stop laughing what are the odds that I would get even one will by that date?

I'm guessing 0%.

Chris in Sussex

10-12-19, 17:27

I have finally, today, received the will I ordered on the 27th July:D

Kit

11-12-19, 10:13

I hope it provided some useful information.

Kit

09-01-20, 22:07

I got 3 out of 13 wills last night my time, that were due Christmas Day so not too late. Hopefully the rest will come soon.

They couldn't find one will as they said I did not provide the hand written folio number on the order form. Double checking last night, there was no folio number. The will had gone through probate twice though and the first time did have a folio number so I have provided all those details and hope they will give me the will without repaying for it. I think they have stored both items on the one file but that is not my fault.

Kit

16-01-20, 09:51

Curiosity question - how do you think they process the orders? I ordered 13. I received 3 and one not found the first day and one nearly every work day after that. Are they doing other work and complete orders in their spare time or are certain people doing them and they do certain time frames, hence the haphazard deliveries?

I would guess that more than one person is doing them as my order is not being completed in any sort of order either date or list order.