# What happens to Wills?

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2016/10/10/what-happens-to-wills/
- Published: 2016-10-10T13:41:51+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**What happens to the Wills that individuals write to leave instructions for how
their possessions should be distributed after their death? The end up in a warehouse
in Birmingham.**

 

Charities spend a great deal of effort encouraging supporters and the public to 
make a Will and to consider leaving a charitable gift in it. But do you know what
happens to a Will once it has been proved?

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The [BBC has published a video](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/video_and_audio/headlines/37591825)
taking us inside the large warehouse in Birmingham that houses the nation’s Wills.

 

The building houses 41 million Wills. Among them are those of the well-known, including
Charles Darwin and Diana, Princess of Wales. There are also 278,000 Wills written
by soldiers.

 

Every month a further 22,000 Wills are added to the archive.

 

 

 

_Photo: [My Will](http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-153665921/stock-photo-my-will.html)
by Alex Skopje on Shutterstock.com_

 * **[Survey shows decline in Irish legacy income](https://fundraising.co.uk/2016/11/04/survey-shows-decline-irish-legacy-income/)**(
   4 November 2016)
 * **[Legacy income tops £2.24 billion annually in the UK yet only 7% leave a charity bequest](https://fundraising.co.uk/2017/01/05/legacy-income-tops-2-24bn-annually-uk-yet-7-leave-charity-bequest/)**(
   5 January 2017)
 * **[Higher 2016 death rates likely to increase legacy income this Spring](https://fundraising.co.uk/2017/02/14/higher-2016-death-rates-likely-increase-legacy-income-spring/)**(
   14 February 2017)

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