Who has the Authority to see a Will?

Once a person has passed away there are many people who have an entitlement to see the Will but what about beforehand, that is while the Will maker is still alive, does anyone have an authority to see the Will in that case? There are often enquiries about this from persons such as those that may hold a power of atto
ey for the person or even just other relatives. But unless the person who made the Will has given a solicitor specific instructions or authority to do so, then a solicitor has an obligation not to show or provide a copy of the Will to other persons.

Even in the case of a person appointed under a power of atto
ey, who will basically have the right to do whatever the donor, that is the person who appointed them, can lawfully do themself in the vast majority of cases, cannot be given a copy of the Will without specific authority. Many people do regard their Will as being a confidential document and do not want their relatives to know the contents prior to their death.

This is different after the person has died in which case Section 54 of the Succession Act sets out who is entitled to see or obtain a copy of a testators Will. The list is extensive, starting with any person named or referred to in the Will, whether as a beneficiary or not, any person named or referred to in an earlier revoked Will, a spouse or de facto partner, any children, grandchildren or other descendent and any parent or guardian of any such person. The list goes on actually and can be quite extensive and can even include creditors. But beforehand that is not the case and a Will maker can keep their Will completely confidential.

I have had many requests from family members and persons holding powers of atto
ey to release Wills to them for all manner of reason, moving away from the area, sick and even the nursing home wants to see it, but it can’t be released without authority. The circumstances are rare that this would not be the case. It may be possible for a solicitor to give advice to an appointed atto
ey as to whether the disposal of an asset will raise issues in relation to a Will but other than that and a specific authority a Will should not be released.