41 million wills available to search online

[Neil Wilson]

Press release from UK government
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/4...the-first-time
Searchable database of wills available online
you still have to apply for a copy of the Will but it will save having to travel or pay for a researcher to find out if there was a Will
enjoy

[Peter Goodey]

I don't know why they've seen fit to issue a press release today because the system doesn't look any different from what's been available since early December.

Some people have reported a problem with the system in that people who died before 1996 but where probate was granted after 1995 don't seem to be picked up on either search.

[Megan Roberts]

Whilst it definitely is an improvement to be able to order on line I just wish that you could search a range of years rather than a year by year basis - I think that the answer will be go back to Ancestry of FMP, get the dates from there (up to the years that they cover) and use those to search and order on line.

Still will be cheaper than a visit to London.

[thewideeyedowl]

This site is useful - potentially very very useful - but at the moment it is in Beta, and that's what it feels like when I was trying a few searches just now:
* The internal search facility needs improving, e.g. a request for 'Ezard, 1886' returned 'Eyton, 1886'. But clicking on Next Page/Previous Page, I found an Ezard will for 1885. (A new Ezard, too, so that is potentially important for my researches.)
* There is a zoom facility on the scan of the Probate image, but once you get it large, you cannot get it to go small again - at least, I couldn't - so I had to find a work-round in order to be able to read the full entry for the probate I wanted. I went back to the previous page and re-entered the search name, and when the desired page came up, pressed Ctrl plus the '+' sign on the keyboard, then Ctrl plus the '-' sign to get it small again. I couldn't find a way to move the scan around (as is possible in a .pdf reader). So they really need to look at this to get it working smoothly.

That said, though, searching here is more useful than searching on Ancestry, particularly as it is free (and my Anc sub ends soon!). And I will be able to fill in the details of the Will I want on the webpage where I found it.

So a warm welcome to this new resource, even though it scores about 6 out of 10 at the moment.

Owl

[usernick]

Well, I ordered 4 wills when it was first announced on 12th December, and they stated a delivery date of 22nd December.

I eventually got an e-mail late on Christmas Eve stating that the wills were available for downloading.

Two out of the four wills were available to download, but two weren't...

Is this because two of them couldn't be found?

In addition, it states "Download Grant and Will" as two separate hyperlinks, but only the first "Grant" takes you to a downloadable PDF file... Clicking on "Will" brings up an error page stating "Unfortunately this will is not available at the moment. Please contact support."

Now, the downloaded Grant brings up both the Grant and Will, so maybe the other hyperlink is redundant?

Now, what happened to the other two Grants/Wills? Should I just hang on, or should I contact them?

Cheers,


Nick

[Ladkyis]

contact them with screen pictures of what you saw if possible, this is the only way to ensure that their techies have the information

[usernick]

Hi,

Just done so - I'll let you know what their response is.

Cheers,


Nick

[Clarinetguy]

So the old system costing £6 has closed; yes?

[jac65]

Hi

It was increased to 10 pounds some months ago. According to comments on various forums there are issues, and one of them is that occasionally the link on the email does not work.

One positive is that you can now pay by credit card, previously overseas researchers had to pay by a sterling cheque which increased the cost of a will substantially.

Andy

[Ladkyis]

Not so useful when your ancestors didn't leave wills that required probate. My lot didn't have a ha'penny to leave!!!