If you need the help of will solicitors in Surrey, it may well be that the issue is not the execution of a will in the standard manner, but the resolution of a difficult dispute.

There are many ways in which a legal dispute over wills and probate can arise, but one of the most common is when one of the interested parties claims no will actually exists and that they should therefore be favoured under intestacy laws.

If this is a situation you face – or suspect you may face – when a loved one passes away, it is important to know that help is at hand. Earlier this week Legal Futures published a reminder of the importance of a Wills Certainty Search.

Such a search can find a will if it exists, even if it has not yet been added to the National Wills Register.

Adrian Thornton, a senior legal assistant at Hillyer McKeown, a law firm based in Liverpool, gave an example of how he had found the register invaluable. He outlined a family dispute in which some individuals had rejected claims by the partner of the deceased that a will existed and took it upon themselves to enter their property, taking several items.

Mr Thornton explained that after he had conducted a search and confirmed the will did exist, matters calmed down, with a meeting being held to resolve matters and items being returned to the property.

It is because this kind of situation sometimes arises that we can carry out a will certainty search for you, if required.

The pandemic may have prompted the creation of a lot more wills that family members are not aware of.

Tilly Bailey & Irvine, a law firm based in the north east of England, recently noted that there was a 70 per cent rise in the making of wills just in March last year, with NHS staff and police officers among those urged to take care of this issue due to the extra dangers they might face.