Who can demand to read a Will?

Making a Will is a very private affair. It allows you to decide who should share in your estate after you have died. Whilst you remain alive, it is entirely up to you as to whether you allow anyone else to read your Will. You can change it, revoke it and re-write it as many times as you like - nobody can stop you doing that, and nobody has a right to read it. However, that changes once you die. That's when we need to consider who can demand to read a Will.

After death, who has the right to read a Will?

When you prepare a Will, you appoint an executor or, more likely, two or more executors. After you have died, they are the only people who have a right to read your Will. Through making a Will, you have appointed executors and empowered them to administer your estate. Even if your executors instruct a solicitor to deal with the administration of the estate, the solicitor can only read the Will on the instructions of the executors.

What about beneficiaries?

Whilst beneficiaries are clearly interested in the Will and any share of the estate they are to receive, even they do not have any right to read the Will. In most executries, the executors will advise the beneficiaries about their share in the estate. This might be challenging, especially when a beneficiary believes that they are entitled to a larger share in the estate than the Will indicates they are to receive!

Does the Will become public at any time?

When dealing with an estate, executors must prepare and lodge an Inventory of Estate. This lists the entire assets and debts of the estate. In addition to the Inventory, the executors must also lodge the Will with the court. Once the court issues the certificate of Confirmation to the executors, the Will then becomes a public document. The Certificate of Confirmation is the official document that allows executors to collect monies due to the estate, deal with assets and liabilities and pay out beneficiaries.

If someone then wishes to read the Will, that person should contact the Sheriff Clerk in the Sheriff Court where the Confirmation has been granted seeking a copy.

Of course, the person applying for a copy of the Will, will need full details of the deceased, their date of birth, where they lived and where they died as well as their date of death. The Sheriff Clerk will conduct a search of the records and if they match the information supplied, will then provide a copy of the Will.

Do you need to wait until Confirmation is granted to read a Will?

There are some circumstances where you might be able to read the deceased's Will before Confirmation has been granted. Usually, when a solicitor is instructed to deal with an estate, they will send the original Will to the Books of Council and Session, managed by the Registers of Scotland. The reason they do this is to protect the Will from loss. When the Will is registered, the Registers of Scotland will retain the original and issue an extract.

Because the Will is registered in a public register, that means anyone can request a search and order their own extract of the Will. The Registers of Scotland will charge a fee for this service (currently £30, including VAT).

However, you should be aware that it is only a very remote possibility of the Will being registered before the death of the testator and if the Will is registered in the Books of Council and Session, there is no designated timescale after death within which the registration should occur, if at all.

If you would like to discuss any aspect of making or changing a Will, we have very experienced solicitors who deal with Will, Powers of Attorney and Estates every day. They will be very happy to help and advise you on all aspects of your Will and Estate Planning. If you do have any questions, please contact us.