How to read a will after death

In England and Wales there is no formal reading. The executor(s) typically find the will, read it, and tell those who need to know.

First, find the will

The will is usually kept at the person's home, their bank, solicitor, or a will storage service. If a solicitor or bank holds the will, they will want to see the death certificate and your own ID before sharing the will.

Only the most recent valid will counts. If you find more than one, the latest signed and witnessed version stands.

If there is no will, the estate passes under fixed legal rules called intestacy. That is a separate process from the one below.

Who is allowed to read it

Before probate is granted, only the executors named in the will may read it. The executors are the people the deceased chose to carry out their wishes. No one else has a right to see it yet, not even close family or named beneficiaries.

Executors can share the will, and most do. But they do not have to until probate is granted.

How a will is laid out

Most wills follow the same order:

• The opening. Names the person who made the will (the testator) and states this is their last will, revoking earlier ones.
• The executors. Names up to four people, who will legally administer the estate.
• Specific gifts. Named items left to specific people: a watch, a car, shares, a particular property.
• Pecuniary legacies. Fixed sums of money, such as £5,000 to a named person.
• The residue. Everything left after debts, tax, costs and the gifts above. This is usually the largest part, and the residuary clause says who gets it and in what shares.
• The end. The testator's signature, the date, and two witnesses' signatures.

The will may also name guardians for children under 18, or set up a trust where someone holds a gift on a beneficiary's behalf.

Working out who gets what

Debts, funeral costs and administration expenses come first. Then specific gifts and pecuniary legacies. Whatever remains is the residue, split between the residuary beneficiaries as the will directs.

Unless the will says otherwise, gifts pass free of tax, so the estate pays it from the residue. If someone left a fixed gift has died before the testator, that gift usually fails and falls back into the residue.

Tax and debts come out of the residue before it is shared, so the residuary beneficiaries carry that cost. If the estate is in debt, the residue can shrink while the fixed gifts are still paid in full. If tax and debts exceed the residue, pecuniary legacies and specific gifts can be clawed back, in a process known as abatement.

What probate changes

Probate is the legal authority for the executors to deal with the estate. Once granted, the will stops being private and becomes a public document.

To get a copy of a will that has been through probate in England and Wales, search the records at gov.uk/search-will-probate. A copy currently costs £16. A new record appears about two weeks after probate is issued.

If the death was recent and probate has not come through, you can pay £3 for a standing search, and you will be sent a copy if a grant is issued within the next six months.

If the estate is small enough that probate is never needed, the will does not go on the public record.

If you are a beneficiary, not an executor

You can ask the executor for a copy of the will and to be told what you are due. The executor should keep you informed as the administration progresses.

If an executor will not respond, a probate solicitor can make the request for you.

The rest of the UK

Scotland has its own system. Wills may be registered in the Books of Council and Session, with records held by Registers of Scotland and the National Records of Scotland. The probate equivalent is called confirmation.

Northern Ireland runs its own probate records, held by the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI).