Government proposal to digitise wills (and destroy originals after 25 years)

[Jomot]

Fantastic news... and if I'm honest, rather unexpected!

[AntonyMMM]

Have to give a special mention and credit to AGRA member Richard Holt who did a tremendous amount of work on this.

[Bookbox]

Have to give a special mention and credit to AGRA member Richard Holt who did a tremendous amount of work on this.

Totally agree. Richard's untiring efforts to raise public awareness over so many months played a huge part in this.

[Andy J2022]

Thanks for the update Bookbox. Good news indeed.

[jonwarrn]

Yes, wonderful news.

There is a slight sting in the tail though.
123. Similarly, the decision to preserve original wills does not address the concerns about the large and increasing costs of preserving the very extensive original will archive (which dates back to 1858). The current cost of obtaining a copy of a will is £1.50 which does not cover the costs of providing this service and does not represent full cost recovery...

124. The Government will therefore be giving further consideration to the fees charged for copies of wills and grants of probate

[rosie99]

I was trying to remember how much they used to cost.  I remember making a visit to the office in High Holborn and looking through records to locate the ones I wanted and ordering them.   

[CaroleW]

When they became available online some years back they were £10 to download so the drop to £1.50 was a substantial one

[goldie61]

That's great news Bookbox.
Thanks for the update.

It was really interesting to read the report and see just how many organisations were listed as submitting responses, including some from over here in Australasia.  (They only listed the organisations - too many individual people).
What a great win!