What happens if no one can find your Will?
In the eyes of the law, if there’s no Will to be found… there’s no Will.
That’s why for the month of May, we are registering the location of your Will for FREE.
Even better? You don’t need to be our client to benefit from this.
What actually happens when a Will goes missing?
When a Will cannot be found, the law treats your estate as if you never made one. Predetermined rules kick in called intestacy.
In England and Wales, those rules follow a fixed legal hierarchy. Unmarried partners, stepchildren, friends and chosen family inherit nothing at all. Whoever sits highest in the intestacy hierarchy administers the estate, and the courts grant them that right based on relationship, not on what the deceased actually wanted.
Challenging it is difficult. Without the document, or a registered record proving it once existed, there is little to argue from. Copies, drafts, and verbal accounts rarely hold up on their own.
A lost Will is as good as no Will and that’s why it’s so important to register the location of it.
What does registering a Will involve?
We register the location of our Wills with The National Will Register, and it is one of the simplest and most overlooked steps in estate planning.
This process does not store the Will itself. It records the location of the document, securely, in a national database. When someone dies, that database is searched, and if a Will has been registered, executors and beneficiaries are pointed to where it lives. If it has not been registered, families are left guessing, and intestacy fills the silence.
What a Registered Will Does for You
✓ Creates a searchable digital record of where your Will is held
✓ Physical storage of the document remains with you
✓ This means executors and beneficiaries can find your Will, even years later
✓ Helps protect against deliberate or accidental loss of the document
✓ Reduces the risk of intestacy overriding your actual wishes
✓ Removes guesswork during what is already a difficult time for those left behind
What happens without registration
✗ Executors may not know a Will exists at all - it can be like searching for a needle in a haystack
✗ Solicitors holding Wills can merge, close, or relocate without notice - this is unfortunately common
✗ Family members searching after death have no central place to check
✗ Intestacy rules can take over, sending estates to relatives that weren’t chosen
How AWAY Wills is handling registration this May
For every existing AWAY Wills client whose Will we hold, we are auditing our records this month. If your Will is not already registered, we will be in touch directly to register it on your behalf, free of charge.
If you aren’t a client, that does not matter. If you have a Will somewhere in England and Wales, written by anyone, at any time, we will register it for you too. No charge, no catch, no requirement to become a client. Just send us the location details and we will handle the rest.
We are doing this because Wills sitting in drawers that can’t be found help nobody. We would rather more people in England and Wales had findable Wills than fewer.
What happens if I don’t have a Will?
Registering a Will is the second step. It’s essential you have a legally valid, signed and witnessed Will in order for us to register it, otherwise we have nothing to register! If you don’t have a Will, we’d love to discuss your situation and help you draft yours in a calm, stress and overwhelm free manner. We offer a free 30 minute phone call to discuss everything with you, feel free to book in below!
Register your Will now ↓
(Yes - it really is this simple!)
Frequently asked questions
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No. Registration records the location of your Will. Storage is the safekeeping of the physical document itself. The two work together: you store the Will somewhere safe, and you register the location so the right people can find it.
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It holds the Will-writer's name, the date the Will was made, and the location of the document. It does not hold the contents of the Will. The contents remain private until probate (which won’t happen until after you pass).
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Yes. Wills of any age can be registered, as long as you have details of where the document is held.
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Yes. If the location of your Will changes, the registration can be updated to reflect that and tt’s important to do so.
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No. Registration is separate from validity. Your Will needs to meet the legal requirements of the Wills Act 1837 to be valid. Registration is about findability, not legality.
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The National Will Register is the UK's central database of Will locations. It does not store the Will itself. It records where the document is held, so that executors and beneficiaries can find it after death.
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Throughout May 2026, AWAY Wills is registering Wills on behalf of clients and non-clients alike, at no cost.
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No. We are extending the free registration to anyone in England and Wales with a Will, regardless of who wrote it. Get in touch and we will handle the registration for you.
Writing a Will is an act of care. Registering it is the quiet step that makes sure that care actually reaches the people you meant it to reach. It takes minutes. It costs nothing this May. And it closes a gap that, when left open, has caused real harm to real families.
If your Will is not registered, May is the month to do something about it.
Nellie McQuinn Founder, AWAY Wills - 30th April 2026
This page provides general information only and is not legal, tax, or regulated financial advice. AWAY Wills is a Will-writing and estate planning service and is not a law firm. Will registration through The National Will Register is a separate service operated by OneAdvanced Legal and whilst AWAY Wills will facilitate the registration process, the company operates under its own Privacy Policies.
