As of 13 August 2026, AI can only partly find the original will.

What to actually do

1. Hand it to a person

   The route this page recommends

   A person who owns the outcome does this end to end, worth it when the failure is dear.

2. Use a tool built for this

   Second choice

3. Do it yourself

   The distant third

   A chat interface, no skill needed, and roughly 30 minutes until you can act on the result.

   How to actually do it

   1. Gather the deceased person's full name, previous names, addresses, approximate will date, likely solicitor or will writer, and any known storage or safe-deposit details.
   2. Open a blank spreadsheet or document and create columns for custodian, contact details, date contacted, response, document type and next action.
   3. Paste the gathered facts into the prompt and ask the chatbot to produce the prioritised search plan and contact templates.
   4. Check every suggested organisation or custodian against your own records before contacting them, then send the relevant template with only the information needed to identify the person.
   5. When a document is located, record whether the custodian says it is the original or a copy, keep the response with the document, and do not alter or mark the will.
   6. If searches conflict, the original is missing, or there is any doubt about validity or which jurisdiction applies, send the documents and search record to a solicitor who handles wills and estates.

   Prompt

   I need to find the original will of [full name], who lived in [town or region] and died or is expected to have died on [date or approximate year]. The relevant UK jurisdiction is [England and Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland]. Known details are: [previous addresses, solicitor or will writer, employer, bank, safe-deposit arrangements, relatives, storage locations and any document references].
   
   Create a practical search plan in priority order. Include:
   1. The places and people I should check first, based only on the information I provide.
   2. A checklist of documents and identifying details to gather.
   3. Short, neutral email or letter templates for contacting a solicitor, will writer, bank, storage provider or other possible custodian.
   4. Questions to ask each custodian about whether they hold the original, a copy, or no record.
   5. A table for recording who was contacted, when, what they confirmed and what evidence they supplied.
   6. A final section explaining when I should stop searching and contact a UK solicitor who handles wills and estates.
   
   Do not claim that a will has been found. Do not invent organisations, records, legal rules, dates or contact details. Do not decide which will is legally valid. Flag anything that depends on the UK jurisdiction or facts I have not supplied. This is not professional advice.

   Open it prefilled in ChatGPT or Claude, or copy it into Gemini, which takes no prefill link.