Petition · past parliament · Ministry of Justice
Make it mandatory to register your Last Will & Testament
Closed
70 signatures
What the petition asks
We wish to petition the government to make it mandatory to register a will with registration service or a public body to ensure it is valid and is in fact the latest will.
In England & Wales there are over 8000 unclaimed family estates, with an approximate value of £1.2Billion. If unclaimed these will go to the Crown rather than the rightful families. These are only the estates the Government are aware of!
If a Will can't be found, then the deceased is considered not to have a Will, at this point the Government follow the rules of intestacy, this could eventually mean inheritance may not go to those intended, be taxed unnecessarily or even go to the Crown itself.
If a Will can't be found, then the deceased is considered not to have a Will, at this point the Government follow the rules of intestacy, this could eventually mean inheritance may not go to those intended, be taxed unnecessarily or even go to the Crown itself.
Timeline
| 30 Sep 2020 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 30 Mar 2021 | Closed to new signatures |
Key facts
Signatures
70
Status
Closed
Department
Ministry of Justice
Opened
30 Sep 2020
Closed
30 Mar 2021
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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.