Probate Registry Wills

All is still not well with the Probate Registry will service. Whilst I eventually got my earlier orders I'm still waiting for a 1976 will ordered 17th Sep and a 1998 will ordered 29th Oct. Both now substantially past their due date, sigh ...

 

I have now had another email from HMCTS allegedly in response to the message I put on their website on 25th November (about the will of John Hulbert 1908).

It is actually an attempt to explain their failure to find another will, which was in my same order, for Charles Hulbert 1887 - on the grounds that I failed to give his full name of The Reverend Charles Butler Hulbert. I cannot definitively refute this as their email acknowledging an order does not give the full information entered online, but it is all available on their own Calendar.

I will try to remember to take a screen shot of any further orders I submit.

 

Hmm, got my final order today, from 7 August. Unfortunately, it's the standard "we can't find it" letter, blaming me. My order details are correct, though there was no folio number to enter.

The index entry is easily found - "CAMERON John Alexander of Kenmore Inveraray Argyll died 2 January 1965 at Alexandria Dunbartonshire Confirmation of Jane May Cameron or Peach. Sealed London 29 April".

Does "Sealed" (it's Scotland!) mean something different to "Probate"?

Should I bother trying again? If so, I'd probably start from scratch, rather than chasing it for the sake of £1.50.

 

Yes - it means the will was proved (confirmed) in Scotland, but there was also property in England. So I don't think there will be a copy of the will or the probate in England, and you will need to apply for a copy in Scotland. There is more information on the Scotlands People website.

 

Thanks Pauline. I've just had a look... wonderful as Scotlands People website is (I've spent a small fortune there recently!), the wills only to go up to 1925, which is a bit frustrating. I would need to visit the records office, which is a long way from down here in Cornwall!

 

The final item in my order from 17th September arrived this morning - but it's one of those 'we can't find it' messages. Frustrating to have waited three months for that. Oh well.

 

Both wills I ordered on 18 November arrived today - only 16 days after the estimated delivery date of 3 December. So a definite improvement on previous experience. Perhaps they are trying to clear the backlog before Christmas!

 

Reference my post of 2nd December saying I had reported a will with the wrong content on 25th November.
After 3 reminders, I finally received the correct will this morning from the HMCTS helpdesk.

 

Thanks Helen for putting me in the right direction , I have received a flurry today, but having posted 4 emails regarding problems , not one has been anwsered, I have had three wills with just probate but no will attached , so how have others dealt with no replies

 

Just to put a bit of perspective, I ordered a recent will at weekend and it arrived two days later at 4 30 am!

 

Yes , I have checked and all say that a will is attached, still no reply to my emails

 

Delivery of wills now seems to be taking about 11 - 14 days longer than the date specified in the estimated delivery column, so a considerable improvement compared with when the new price was first available.

There seems to be little relationship between the sequence of ordering and the sequence of delivery with variation in delivery time and an occasional will arriving a week or more earlier than estimated delivery.

Response to enquiry emails seems less satisfactory. I have one will that ends in mid sentence so I am sure at least one page is missing between the penultimate page in the .pdf and the last page that has the signatures of testator and witnesses. It is possible that one or more pages have been lost from the original documents but I have had no reply to my email asking for a check.

In one case I was provided with the correct will but the grant of probate was for the preceding entry in the calendar. I had a quick reply to say the error would be corrected but no further action. That one does not really matter as the grant will probably only have the same information as the calendar entry.

I have one grant of probate saying a will and a codicil are annexed, but I have been sent only the codicil. Has anyone had both or if there is a codicil is that likely to be the only document kept? It does change the sums granted to several legatees and specifies the original sum and the new sum. I am not sure if it is worth a follow up email.

Overall I have gained a lot of interesting new information since I read in the newsletter about the bargain price, so many thanks for the orginal news item

I began with an 1876 will for a 4 x great uncle. It left a substantial sum and named 17 relatives. These included the married names of sisters and daughters, so lots of new genealogical information. Many of those who received bequests left wills themselves, also containing much of interest. Cousins were often appointed as executors or received bequests. One will referred to family portraits of the 4 x great uncle and one of his sons.

 

You should get both - a codicil adds to or amends part of a will, it does not replace it.

 

Talk about adding insult to injury!

I am waiting for a will I ordered on 5 Jan and it's now just over 2 weeks overdue, which probably seems like nothing of a wait to many people. There doesn't seem to be any obvious reason why some wills are taking so much longer than others.

 

Could the dffierence be that this rapid delivery was for a "recent will". Maybe they are stored in electronic format already but older ones need to be scanned when ordered from paper records,

 

I ordered a will on 7 November 2019. Probate is 2017, so recent. Estimated delivery date 22 November 2019. Still not received, nearly 11 weeks overdue so far.

 

I ordered a will on 2nd February. It arrived today! It was a will from 1927.

 

Have you clicked on both 'will' and 'grant' if displayed separately ?