How do I find out where a Will is registered in England?

Question:

How do I find out where a Will is registered in England?

My brother died in England recently and family are having difficulty in tracing his Will, is there a central registration point?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Please accept my condolences.
It is not clear whether your brother left any family in the UK or not. If he indeed left a will, and it is a valid will, then no action will be taken on it until a grant of probate has been applied for. There is therefore no point in applying to a registry, as wills are only registered after probate. Sometimes people leave their wills with the solicitor who has drawn them up. Sometimes they leave them in a safety deposit box at their bank. Most often, they leave them somewhere at home. If all these places have been searched, then the correct thing to do is to ask a solicitor to apply on behalf of the next of kin for a letters of administration on the grounds that your brother was intestate (i.e. without having made a will). The great difficulty about this is that a grant cannot be made without the payment of estate duty up front and in the case of someone who owned his own home this can be a huge sum to find. If there is reason to believe that someone has taken out probate, then you can apply for a copy of the will.

You have to write to
The Postal Searches & Copies Dept,
York Probate Sub-Registry
Castle Chambers
Clifford Street
York
YO1 9RG
Ideally the information they will need will be the full name, address and date of death of the deceased, requesting the years to be searched and the appropriate fee. This is ⣵, which covers the four year period from the date of death, plus ⣳ for each subsequent 4 year period. If a grant is traced, the fee includes a copy of the Grant and Will (if any). If you do not have all the information then the Officials will do what they can, provided you have at least the correct full name.

If the death has occurred recently and you cannot locate the Grant, then it is possible to request a Standing Search. This is valid for 6 months and if Grant is issued within that time you will automatically receive a copy. You can extend the Standing Search for 6 month periods for as long as you like. The fee each time is ⣵.

Once you have found the relevant Grant you can order copies at the Principal Probate Registry or at any of the District Probate Registries. You will need to state the full name of the deceased, the date of the Grant, the Registry where it was issued (all of which will be in the Calendar entry), what copies you want and pay the appropriate fee [in person ⣵ for the first and ⣱ for subsequent copies; by post ⣵ for each estate]. The Registry's aim is to supply copies within 21 days.

Payment should be made by cheque or postal order to HMCS. If applying from outside the UK payment needs to be by international money order in pounds sterling.