How Do You Know if Someone Has a Will? Your Questions Answered

A Last Will and Testament is one of the most important documents that someone can have. It helps heirs manage someone’s estate, and wills can even have unique rules or stipulations.

Essentially, it’s someone’s final words and wishes, so knowing if someone has one after they pass away is very important. In fact, it’s even handy to know if they have one while they’re alive. This is because you can then bug them to create one, because everyone should have a will.

So, how do you know if someone has a will? Read on to have your questions answered.

What Is a Will?

First things first, what is a will? A will, or Last Will and Testament, is a legal document that’s written by someone to properly distribute their assets. This legal document provides an outline for how someone’s assets will be distributed. For example, if someone owns land, it will indicate how much of that land each heir is entitled to.

Wills also go beyond the financial aspects of someone’s passing. If someone has young children, for example, then a will may indicate who will care for them as guardians. Overall, the purpose of a will is to ensure that someone’s estate is handled the way that they wanted it to be handled, even after they’re gone.

Is a Will a Public Record?

A will isn’t always a public record. You’ll find that wills are confidential until the person who wrote the will passes away. Until that happens, nobody is allowed to view it without permission. In fact, wills only become a public record once they go through the probate process. It’s only at this time that the will is accessible to the public.

How Do You Know if Someone Has a Will?

If you’re curious about whether or not someone has a will, there are a few ways you can find out. Sure, you could ask, but if you’re not close to the family or the person, you may have to use other tools.

Thankfully, tools like FreePeopleSearch.com can help. Learn more about your options below.

FreePeopleSearch.com

The best tool to help you find out if someone has a will is FreePeopleSearch.com. You can use the platform’s people search tool to find anything that’s a public record. If someone has a will available in public records, FreePeopleSearch.com will help you find it.

That said, you can also find more than someone’s will. You can discover criminal records, other court records, social media accounts, and much more. Therefore, this isn’t a tool that you should reserve for the sole purpose of finding wills.

Instead, it’s a good idea to use it to learn more about any public records you need to find.

Probate Court

The probate court where the will was filed is another great way to access a will. All you need to do is visit the court and request the documents. There should be a clerk or even sometimes an online system within the courthouse.

However, you might get lucky because some online portals are available. Unfortunately, this depends on the court, state, and sometimes even the will. For these reasons, it never hurts to call in advance.

Ask the Family

This one is a bit of a Hail Mary, but if you know the family, it could work. Due to wills not always being easily accessible via public records, if you need to know fast, you can ask the family.

Families of the deceased will have a record of the will, or at least know about it, so you can reach out to them to see if they know anything about it. While this is great if you’re a friend or relative, if you’re not, it may not be the best approach because they probably won’t share that information with a stranger.

How Do You Know if Someone Has a Will? Our Final Thoughts

So, how do you know if someone has a will? Ultimately, if they’re alive, the only thing you can do is ask. However, if someone has passed away, you can visit the probate court or check online with a third-party public records search tool, like FreePeopleSearch.com.

We always recommend starting with online tools first because you don’t have to get off the couch, and who wants to waste their time?