A Lichfield expert is warning people to check on the status of their wills.
As the companies collapse documents surrounding wills, Powers of Attorney as well as other papers kept for security reasons, are disappearing too.
And Emma Harrison, head of wills and probate at HCB Solicitors in Lichfield, is advising people who have made wills to check that the firm holding them still exists and that all contact details are up to date.
Emma said: “It is vitally important that people know the whereabouts of their wills and Powers of Attorney. The problems surrounding probate proceedings when a will is lost are huge.
“Firms advise clients to keep their documents in a safe place preferably stored with the solicitor or with the will-writer.
“But it’s a fact of economic life that many law firms and will-writing companies have been forced to close or merge and in the process the wills and other documents have gone missing.
“For law firms regulated by the Law Society this is not generally a problem as the document stores will be transferred to another firm even though it may not be a local one. Unfortunately, due to out of date details on the documents it is not always possible to notify the clients of the change in the whereabouts of their documents.
“With will writers who are unregulated it often means the documents are totally lost.”
