§ Mr. KidneyTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what proportion of the adult population of England and Wales(a) has used the system for the deposit and safe-keeping of the wills of living persons operated by the principal registry of the family division and (b) he estimates have made wills. [25735]
§ Mr. Hoon(a) There are currently 83,000 wills deposited at the Principal Registry of the Family Division (PRFD). This means that 0.2 per cent of the 40,073,200 adults over the age of 18 in England and Wales have used this service. (b) It is not possible to say what proportion of the adult population have made wills as there is no requirement for wills to be registered or deposited with PRFD.
§ Mr. KidneyTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what(a) information and (b) opportunities to register an interest are to the public in the system for the deposit and safe-keeping of the wills of living persons operated by the principal registry of the family division. [25734]
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§ Mr. Hoon(a) There is no facility currently available to register an interest in a will. (b) Details of how to deposit a will for safe-keeping by the Principal Registry of the Family Division (PRFD) are published in a leaflet available at PRFD and all Probate Registries. Wills can be deposited at any Registry and are then forwarded to PRFD where they are retained.
§ Mr. KidneyTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what are the annual costs of the system for the deposit and safe-keeping of the wills of living persons operated by the principal registry of the family division gross and net of any fee income charged; and if he will assess the costs of operating the system as an open register with facilities for inspection and registering of third party interests and appropriate fees for such services. [25736]
§ Mr. HoonTwo staff operate the system for receipt and safe-keeping of wills. Their combined annual cost is £60,500. This does not include the cost of storing the wills and the management of the staff, which are incorporated into the overall cost of running the Principal Registry of the Family Division and could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost. 13,732 wills were deposited in 1997 at a fee of £1 each and so the net annual cost is £46,768. It is not possible to assess the cost of operating the system as an open register with facilities for inspection and registering third parties' interests as there is no information available on the number of requests such a system would generate. To research the number of requests that might be made would incur a disproportionate cost. In any event, the wills of living persons are not public documents.