New SA Central Wills Register Established
Tuesday 24 May 2016 @ 2.23 p.m. | Judiciary, Legal Profession & Procedure | Legal Research
On 24 May 2016, the SA Law Society as an initiative of the Succession Law Committee, has set up a Central Wills Register, including the location of all wills held by practitioners in the State.
Background to the Initiative
According to Lawyer's Weekly, "the creation of the wills register was prompted by a weekly influx of lost wills notices to the Law Society, which could only respond by publishing notices to its members."
President of the Law Society, David Caruso, stated:
"At the moment, all we can do is publish a missing will notice in our communications to our members and hope that if a law firm is holding the will, they see the notice, recognise the name and are therefore able to locate it."
How the Initiative Works
The Central Wills Register allows legal practitioners to quickly track down lost Wills that have been registered, and add their own clients Wills to the register. The Law Society’s Wills Register is free to both register wills and search, and is accessible to all legal practitioners currently working in a South Australian Legal Practice.
With the introduction of the electronic facility, Mr Caruso has urged solicitors to register the wills in their care. He also encouraged people to request that their wills be placed onto the register.
Mr Caruso states:
"The register gives those making a will and their families peace of mind that this most important document will be kept safely, securely, and can easily be located on their death so that their wishes can be carried out.
Listing a will on the Law Society’s register removes any doubt about the security of a person’s will and ease of accessing it in the event of death."
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