UK Government Launches an Online Archive of Historical Wills
The Government has launched an online wills archive. The archive will allow people to access and view the 41 million wills which are held in the database.
Ordering a copy of an online will will cost £10 each. You will now be able to search online to find a will or ‘grant of representation’ for people who died in or after 1858. A grant of representation allows someone else to deal with a deceased person’s estate and this right is called ‘probate.’
The wills are available online after all were hand-scanned and uploaded. Before the launch of this new will archive wills were only available from 1996 onwards.