NOTTINGHAM LAW FIRM REMOVES THE UNCERTAINTY

05/02/2010

Nottingham solicitors Rothera Dowson are working with the UK’s first online Wills Registry to help the families of their clients track down a Will when the client dies.

The joint venture with Certainty.co.uk comes after a survey* found that as many as 67 per cent of people polled were unable to locate their parents’ Wills.  The online firm is now linking with Rothera Dowson to offer registration and so help ensure that Wills held by solicitor members of Certainty can be found when the time comes.  The normal registration fee is £25 but for all new instructions this year, Rothera Dowson are waiving the fee.

Jayne Smith at Rothera Dowson is pleased with the high uptake in the service since it was launched last year.  Jayne says: “It can be extremely distressing for people who have recently lost a loved one to then not be able to find the Will or discover where it is stored, or even whether one was made at all. I have seen many cases over the years where relatives have been unable to locate a Will, particularly ones made many years before.  Some of these relatives will sadly end up with only a proportion of what should rightly be theirs - in some cases even nothing - and this often leads to bitter family disputes.”

“I’d strongly urge people to have their Will drafted by a qualified solicitor who will not only store it for you safely, but also register the fact of your Will’s existence and its location on this new confidential register.  The register is fully confidential, and people searching for a missing Will when you die will be contacted by the solicitors who registered the Will.  By registering clients’ Wills with Certainty, solicitors are reducing the risk of a Will not being found, and all the extra heartbreak that brings” concludes Mrs Smith.

In order to combat the problem of missing Wills in the UK, Certainty.co.uk is offering 12.8m Will registrations free of charge in association with their solicitor members across the country.

For legal advice regarding Wills please contact either Jayne Smith or Heather Kirk on 0800 124 4012.

*Public survey commissioned by certainty.co.uk