How does a will become certified?

[Jimjobjim]

Hi All,

i will be acting as executor for my late relatives estate, I will be hiring a solicitor however it’s very difficult to get an appointment at the moment as you can imagine.

I’ve been doing some groundwork myself to speed things up, the estate consists of bank accounts/post office account and a house which will go into three peoples names, they have all agreed to sell the house which makes it easier. Regarding bank accounts, all of the banks and the post office state they require a certified copy of the will and death cert.

My question is at what stage of the process does the will I hold in my possession become certified? Is it something the solicitor will do for me? Any shedding of light on this would be most helpful

thank you

 

[huskerdu]

The will does not need to be certified .

Institutions who need to see a copy of the will want the copy to be certified by a solicitor as a true copy of the original .

 

[Thirsty]

You need your solicitor to make a copy of the will, stamp and sign it as a certified copy.

Then you bring that plus death cert to the relevant bank and they will make their own copy there and then and return your docs.

Whilst you are not going the DIY route, there's a good thread called DIY probate which you'll find helpful.