Whilst on 31 October 2019 the BBC news website stated that Lloyds Banking Group has taken a £1.8 billion hit for payment protection insurance (PPI) claims almost wiping out the Bank’s third quarter profits, the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (“STEP”) reported that Lloyds Bank early this year discovered approximately 9,000 Wills in its safe custody service amongst approximately 190,000 documents.
The Bank stopped offering a storage service in 2011 so this would not affect anything after that date.
The STEP article states that although about 90% of the discovered Wills had been revoked by a later Will, in some case families and executors have dealt with the deceased’s estate using the wrong will or believing that there was no Will.
It is of utmost importance that if you make a new Will that you retrieve your old Will from storage if you are using a different firm of legal advisors. Waldrons will always offer to obtain the Will for you as part of the service of advising you on your Will. In addition, Waldrons, as part of our service and for no additional charge register the fact that a will has been made with the National Wills Register so if your family cannot find a copy of your Will and do not know where it is stored they can track your Will by undertaking a Will Search.
If you have a Will do you know where it is stored? If not will your wishes be carried out? If you don’t have a Will or are unable to locate your Will then it is important to make or review your Will to ensure that your assets pass to those whom you want them to. To contact us to make an appointment please call 01384 811811.
