by Stephen Lawson, IDR Partner and Chair of The Law Society Wills & Equity Committee
In December 2023 the (then) government issued a consultation paper called “Storage & Retention of Original Will Documents”.
It invited comments on the government’s proposals to introduce a system for preserving Will documents in digital form – as opposed to the current system of keeping all original paper documents submitted in applications for probate.
It will be appreciated that, since 1858, all wills and probate documents submitted for probate have been held under the authority of the High Court. Since that time, the government has accumulated 110 million documents, which cost an annual sum of £4.5 million to store (and access from time to time). The government sought views on the proposal to digitise all the documents so that original Wills, etc (excluding perhaps original Wills of the “famous”) could be destroyed. The Government consultation closed in February 2024. Over 1500 responses to the consultation paper were received, with a large majority from individual members of the public. The consultation generated considerable interest and concern from many people who were concerned about preserving original documents with historical and emotional value. The large majority of responses vehemently opposed the destruction of original Wills.
Having reflected upon the terms of the response, I am pleased to see that the government has decided to abandon the reform so that it can continue to keep original wills and probate documents.
Sadly, there is one small sting in the tail. The current cost of obtaining a copy of a Will is £1.50. The government says that this does not cover the cost of providing a copying service, and it is significantly cheaper than copies obtained for comparable public records (for example, a fee for a birth or death certificate is £12.50). The government will, therefore, now be giving further consideration to the fees to be charged in future for copies of Wills and Grants of Probate. Whilst this fee increase might be disappointing, it is perhaps understandable in these difficult economic times. At least original Wills should continue to be maintained.
Time will tell how this process continues if the Law Commission recommends the recognition of electronic Wills following the publication of its report on reform of the Wills Act 1837 – publication of their report is due in April 2025.
