§ Mr. Bill MichieTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary. Lord Chancellor's Department what safeguards are available to protect a bereaved person who does not wish the deceased person's will published for security or other reasons; and what is the status of the Data Protection Act 1984 in this respect.
Mr. John M. TaylorUnder section 124 of the Supreme Court Act 1981, a will is a public document. 293W However, anyone may apply to a district probate registrar to prevent inspection of a will. The registrar may grant the application if, in his opinion, inspection would be undesirable or otherwise inappropriate. A record of every will administered by the probate registry is kept on a computer system; the general public do not have access to this computer system and the system is fully registered under the Data Protection Act 1984.