An Executor of a Will is entitled to see a copy of the Will file. However, if you are not named as an Executor you can still request information relating to the Will by way of a Larke v Nugus request to the Will Writer.
A Larke v Nugus request is a letter from someone interested in the Estate of a deceased person i.e. a named beneficiary who is not Executor or a claimant against the Estate, and it seeks information from the Will Writer as to the production of the Will and execution of the Will.
There is no legal obligation on the Will Writer to respond to such request but they should consider carefully whether they do comply with the request, from an costs perspective.
The recent case of Addison v Niaz [2024] EWHC 3124 (Fam) demonstrates what action could be taken if a Will Writer does not adequately respond to a Larke v Nugus request or if there is a significant delay in responding.
In this case, the testator had made a Will naming two of his four children as Executors. The testator then made a later Will appointing his other two children as Executors instead. Both of the testator’s Wills divided the Estate equally between all four children.
After the testator's death the two children who had been removed as Executors in the second Will sent a Larke v Nugus request to the drafting solicitor. After a delay of around three months and numerous chasers, the drafting solicitor responded to the questions raised in the Larke v Nugus letter and sent a copy of the Will file. The children thought the response was inadequate so they made an application to court under Section 122 of the Senior Courts Act 1981, requiring the drafting solicitor to attend court to answer questions about the Will.
At a hearing, the drafting solicitor argued the application to court was unnecessary as they had responded to the Larke v Nugus request. The Judge held that the children’s costs in bringing the application should be paid by the drafting solicitor. This was because there had been a delay in responding to the Larke v Nugus request, the information provided had been inadequate and some of the information did not align with the evidence given by the drafting solicitor at the hearing.
There is a possibility that if more information had been provided in response to the Larke v Nugus request, the application to court could have been avoided.
It was unusual for a Larke v Nugus request to be made in this case, given both Wills divided the Estate between all four children, however, it is assumed the two children removed as Executors in the later Will wanted to know the reasoning behind this.
If you would like to request further information regarding a Will that you are not an Executor of, or if you have already made a request and are unhappy with the response, please contact our specialist Contentious Trusts and Probate team for advice.
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