‘My bachelor uncle told us he made a will before he died but his solicitors’ firm can’t find it. Who gets the farm? Can we sue for negligence?’

‘My bachelor uncle told us he made a will before he died but his solicitors’ firm can’t find it. Who gets the farm? Can we sue for negligence?’

‘My cousin helped out our uncle and says he was promised the farm but we’d like to know for sure. Can we trace old records or notes?’

Mary Frances Fahy. Photo: Brian Farrell

Query: My uncle, a bachelor farmer, recently died. He was a quiet man but had mentioned to some family members several years ago that he had made a will.

We are now in difficulty because the solicitors’ firm he dealt with says it has no record of it. The firm has changed hands a few times over the years, and while they acknowledge they advised him previously, they say it’s not feasible to trace old records or notes from when he may have made his will.