The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) has proposed to digitise the post-1858 wills collection of England and Wales, which is fine. However, they then suggest that they would then destroy the originals, citing heavy storage costs as the reason for doing this. The 32-page consultation document, issued on 15 December, on the storage and retention of original will documents may be read here:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65703ecb0f12ef07a53e02b9/storage-retention-original-will-documents-print.pdf
This has caused a lot of negative reaction in the family history community and many of us have been signing the petition here:
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/654081
The Find a Will service, provided on the official government website, is now providing each copy of a probate record for England and Wales at £1.50 each.
You can use their service to:
- search for a probate record in England and Wales
- check if probate has been issued
- check the type of probate issued
- order a copy of a probate record (including a will, if there is one)
Order online costs £1.50 at: https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/#wills
