How to register a will in the UK, and why it helps your executors
Registering a will is optional in the UK. What a will register records and costs, and how it differs from depositing the original with HMCTS.
Do you have to register a will in the UK?
No, registering a will is voluntary throughout the UK, and a will that has never been registered is just as valid as one that has, provided it was signed and witnessed properly. The National Will Register's own guidance says plainly that registration is not a legal requirement, and a 2024 briefing from the Scottish Parliament's research service confirms that, before a person's death, there is no requirement in Scotland to register a will with a public body.
Nor is there an official register that every will has to go on. Section 23 of the Administration of Justice Act 1982 did provide for official registering authorities in each part of the UK to keep depositories for the wills of living people and to register the wills left with them, on a voluntary basis, but the section has never been brought into force, which is why legislation.gov.uk still shows it as prospective. What people call registering a will today therefore means one of two voluntary steps, which are recording the will with a privately run register or lodging the original with the court, and the two do quite different jobs.
What does registering a will actually record?
Registering a will records the fact that it exists and where the original is kept, and nothing about what it says. The National Will Register asks only for basic details of the person who made the will, the date of the will and where the original is stored, which is usually with the solicitor or will writer who holds it, and once payment goes through it emails a certificate of registration that it suggests you print and keep with your personal papers. The will itself stays exactly where it was, so registration does not protect the paper from fire or loss, and it has no effect on whether the will is valid.
The value comes after your death. An executor who suspects a will exists, or who holds one and needs to check that it is your latest, can pay for a search of the register, and a match puts them in touch with whoever holds the original. That is also why a registration needs updating whenever the will moves or you replace it, because an out-of-date record can mislead the very people relying on it.
How does The National Will Register work?
The National Will Register is a privately run service that records where wills are held, so that executors can search it after a death. It began as Certainty in 2006, according to its own history page, which also records a partnership with the Law Society from that year, and it says it now holds records of more than 10.5 million wills. Law firms and will writers use it to register their clients' wills, but members of the public can register directly too, and Citizens Advice describes it as a commercial organisation whose database families can pay to search after a death.
As at November 2026 it charges members of the public £30 including VAT to register a will, and the same fee applies whether you register your own will or, with the will-maker's permission, someone else's. Its history page also refers to a Free Will Registration Month in both 2025 and 2026, without giving dates or saying whether it will recur. It also points out that, because registration is not compulsory in the UK, not every will is on it, which means a registration helps your executors most when they also know to search it.
Can your solicitor or will writer register it for you?
Yes, although it does not happen automatically. The National Will Register says that solicitors do not register wills as a matter of course and that many offer registration as an additional service when they draft or update a will, so it makes sense to ask at the outset whether your will is going to be registered and whether there is a charge for it. Where a regulated professional drafted the will, the register says they can register it for you.
If you wrote the will yourself, nobody will register it unless you do, and the same applies if you later move the original away from the firm that drafted it. Our guide to writing your own will covers the signing and witnessing rules that decide whether a homemade will is valid, which matters far more than whether it is registered. When you replace a will, or alter it with a codicil as our guide to changing a will explains, the registration should be updated so that it points to the new document rather than the old one.
How is the HMCTS will storage service different from registration?
The government's service stores the original will itself, which a register never does. Section 126 of the Senior Courts Act 1981 provides for depositories, under the control of the High Court, for the wills of living people, and HM Courts and Tribunals Service now runs that service by post from the Newcastle District Probate Registry, which holds the sealed will until you, or after your death your executor, asks for it back. GOV.UK's guidance on storing a will with HMCTS, which was last updated on 13 July 2026, sets out the process as it stands in November 2026.
The fee: a one-off £24, which rose from £23 on 13 July 2026, paid by cheque or postal order made out to HM Courts and Tribunals Service. You may be able to get help with fees if you get benefits or are on a low income.
Before you post it: make a copy for yourself, and put the will and any codicils together in one envelope, because GOV.UK says that way you are not charged separately for each.
The label:form PA7ENV asks, in block capitals, for your details and those of your executors, and a witness has to sign the label itself before you attach it to the envelope.
Sending it: the labelled envelope goes inside a larger one with the payment, by recorded delivery, to Newcastle District Probate Registry, 2nd Floor, Kings Court, Earl Grey Way, North Shields, NE29 6AR. GOV.UK withdrew its information on depositing a will in person in November 2023 as no longer applicable, so post is the route.
What comes back: lodging takes around two weeks, after which the registry sends you a lodgement certificate, which the withdrawal guidance calls a certificate of deposit.
In practice a deposit protects the paper whilst a registration helps people find it, and your executors still have to know a deposited will is there, which is why the PA7ENV label includes an undertaking that you will tell your executors about their appointment and about the deposit. Our guide to where to keep your will compares this service with keeping the will at home or with a solicitor.
How do you take a will back out of HMCTS storage?
You can withdraw a deposited will at any time and free of charge by sending form PA7A to the same registry, as set out in GOV.UK's guidance on withdrawing a stored will. If you made the will, you send the completed form with the original certificate of deposit and your safe custody reference number, and if the certificate has gone missing you explain that in writing when you apply. HMCTS accepts wet ink, scanned and typed signatures, the form can be sent by email or by post, and GOV.UK says it takes around four weeks to process the request and send the documents back.
After your death the same form is used by your executor, who has to include an official copy of the death certificate, along with form PA7B where other executors named in the will need to give their consent. Someone who is neither the will-maker nor an executor but is applying for probate needs a letter of authority as well. If you later make a new will, the deposited one stays in storage until somebody withdraws it, so withdrawing it and depositing the replacement keeps the record straight, whilst a later codicil can be lodged by quoting the original reference on a new label.
How do your executors use a registration or a deposit?
Your executors use a registration by paying for a search and a deposit by applying to withdraw the will, and both work best when they already know which applies. When a search of The National Will Register finds a match, the register tells the firm or organisation holding the will and passes on the searcher's contact details, and the searcher then gives the holder documents such as proof of identity and a death certificate. A deposited will comes back through form PA7A, and whilst the certificate of deposit makes that quicker, Citizens Advice notes that families can still ask the registry whether it holds a will even when no certificate can be found.
A register search is never conclusive, because only registered wills show up, so a clear result does not prove that no will exists. Our guide to finding a will when the original is missing sets out the search order and its costs from your family's side, and our guide to what an executor does explains the personal liability an executor carries for mistakes, which is one reason they need to be sure they are working from your latest will. A registration certificate or a certificate of deposit filed with your papers shortens that search considerably.
How does it work in Scotland and Northern Ireland?
Scotland has no requirement to register a will either, but it does have an official register in which the original can be kept. A will can be registered for safekeeping in the Register of Deeds, whose full name is the Register of Deeds and Probative Writs in the Books of Council and Session, which Registers of Scotland keeps. The Scottish Parliament's research service said in 2024 that only paper originals were accepted for wills, and Registers of Scotland keeps the original and issues an official copy, called an extract, that can be used in its place, with its Register of Deeds page listing £20 for registering a deed and issuing an extract. The same briefing describes the register as publicly searchable for a fee, although Registers of Scotland's own guidance on finding a will says you cannot search for the will of a person who is still alive, so its search and copy service is something your family would use after your death. Executors can also choose to register a will after the death, separately from applying for confirmation, the court process that our guide to confirmation in Scotland explains.
Section 126 and the HMCTS service belong to the courts of England and Wales, and Northern Ireland has its own arrangements. Northern Ireland's probate fee schedule includes a fee of £49, from 1 April 2026, for depositing a will for safe custody with the Probate and Matrimonial Office, although nidirect's guidance does not set out a process for it, so the Probate Office in Belfast is the place to ask how it works. nidirect's guide to making a will says that a solicitor who makes your will will normally keep the original and send you a copy, and The National Will Register operates across the whole of the UK.
What to do next
Decide whether you want a record of where your will is (registration), protection for the original itself (a deposit or a solicitor's safe custody), or both.
If a solicitor or will writer drafted the will, ask whether they will register it and whether there is a charge, and get written confirmation of where the original is held.
If you register it yourself, keep the certificate of registration with your personal papers and update the entry if the will moves or you replace it.
If you deposit it with HMCTS, keep the certificate and the safe custody reference somewhere your executors will find them.
Tell your executors in writing what you have done, so that they look in the right place first.
When someone dies, the people dealing with their affairs also have to find and tell every bank, utility, insurer and subscription they held, which is far quicker when a clear list of accounts sits alongside the note about the will. If that work does fall to your family, Legacy Trail's free notification service can contact those private-sector companies for them.
Frequently asked questions
There is no official register that every will must go on, and the voluntary deposit and registration scheme in section 23 of the Administration of Justice Act 1982 has never been brought into force. The nearest equivalent is The National Will Register, a privately run service used voluntarily by law firms and individuals, so a valid will can exist without appearing on it. In Scotland, the Register of Deeds kept by Registers of Scotland also accepts wills, though registering there is optional too.
The National Will Register charges members of the public £30 including VAT, according to its website in November 2026. A solicitor or will writer may register the will for you, often as an extra service, so ask whether a charge applies. Depositing the original with HMCTS in England and Wales is a separate service with its own one-off fee, which has been £24 since 13 July 2026.
No, because The National Will Register records only that the will exists and where it is kept, and a will deposited with HMCTS stays sealed until it is withdrawn, although in England and Wales a will normally becomes a public record once it goes to the probate registry with a probate application. In Scotland, Registers of Scotland says you cannot search for the will of someone who is still alive, so a will registered in its Register of Deeds can only be searched for and copied, for a fee, after the death.
Yes. You can register your own will online with The National Will Register by giving your details, the date of the will and where the original is kept, and in England and Wales you can deposit the original with HMCTS yourself by post using the PA7ENV label. A solicitor can do either for you, but neither step requires one.
The old registration does not update itself, so it will keep pointing to the earlier will until you or your solicitor change it. A new will normally includes a clause revoking earlier wills, so the tidiest course is to register the new will and, if the old one was deposited with HMCTS, to withdraw it on form PA7A, which costs nothing.
This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Individual circumstances vary. If you are dealing with an estate, consider taking advice from a solicitor who specialises in probate. For other guidance specific to your circumstances, speak to a funeral director, Citizens Advice, or a regulated financial adviser.