A will is a legal document that outlines a person's final wishes on how their assets, possessions, and belongings should be handled following death. These are very important documents that enable the deceased's family to know what their loved one's wishes were. However, unexpected deaths occur, and in these cases, you might not know the person's will.
Many also want to find someone's will, even if the person is alive, to know what to expect following their death. This is especially common among families with elderly parents approaching the end of life. Whether or not the person you want to find the will of is alive or deceased, our article is here to guide you through finding their will. Read to the end to learn how to find someone's will by following our expert tips.
How to Find Someones Will After Their Death
Finding the will of someone who died is a lot easier than finding the will of someone who's alive. This is partly due to laws as wills that go through the probate process become a public record. Here's more on how to find someone's will following their death.
Probate Court Records
As mentioned, wills become a part of the public records when they go through a process called probate. This process refers to the legal procedure where the deceased's will is processed by a court, namely the probate court. Since all this is public information, you can visit the probate court where the deceased person's will was processed to find it.
Also, many probate courts offer an online search. Visit the probate court's official website to check if they offer an online search before heading there in person. If they do, you will save yourself the commute and find their will in minutes.
People Search
If the probate court where the will was processed doesn't have an online search, or you don't know the exact probate court, your best option is to use a people search engine with the capability to search for probate court records.
While many people search sites are out there, you can run a free people look up using FreePeopleSearch. All you gotta do is enter the deceased person's full name, city, and state to run a comprehensive check on public databases as well as web pages to locate their will.
In addition to probate court records that can help you find someone's will, FreePeopleSearch can also bring up other information from public records. This includes property records, bankruptcies, and addresses (past, current, and alternate), along with a list of their relatives. All this makes FreePeopleSearch a powerful tool that can be helpful beyond finding someone's will.
Ask Their Lawyer
If the deceased has just passed away and their will hasn't been processed yet, contacting their lawyer is going to be the quickest way to find their will. They should be able to share it with you, assuming that you're a family of the deceased.
If you don't know their lawyer or you simply suspect that they might have had one, there are various ways to find out who their lawyer is. Asking family and friends, checking bank statements and invoices from legal companies, and emails from law firms can lead you to their lawyer, which will ultimately help you find out if they had written a will.
How to Find Someones Will if They Are Alive
When you want to find the will of someone who's alive, it gets a little more difficult. Until the person dies, their will is a private document. Therefore, you will have a very difficult time finding someone's will unless they choose to share it with you.
The most straightforward way to find someone's will in this situation is simply to ask them about it. If you have a close relationship with the person, you might just want to ask, particularly if you're trying to find the will of your parents or spouse. While it might be difficult to talk about the subject of death, many people actually appreciate these conversations because it shows them that you're thinking ahead and caring.
Although you can take some investigative action to find someone's will, it risks breaching their privacy, which can bring serious legal troubles your way. Given that you can't legally force someone to disclose their will, it is best to ask nicely and respect their decision if they don't want to share it with you.
How to Find Someones Will: It’s Never Been Easier
Now, you know how to find someone's will, whether the person is still alive or has passed away. Given that wills become public records once they are processed, checking probate court records will lead you directly to the document you're trying to find.
Since wills can be a sensitive topic, ask about it carefully and respect the person's decision if they don't want to disclose it to you. After all, you can't legally force someone to share their will.
