Missing wills might intrigue detectives like Hercule Poirot, but the average person doesn’t want to be embroiled in legal complications and lost last wills and testaments.

“The legal procedures to administer your estate where there is no will, or the will cannot be located, are complicated and time consuming,” Tim Dingwell, president of the ACT Law Society, said. “This may give rise to unintended consequences, conflict, additional costs, worry and even hardship for your family.”

To make it easier to lodge, find, and retrieve wills after a person’s death, and to prevent wills from being lost or destroyed, the ACT Government will set up a centralised ACT wills register.

It will not be mandatory to deposit a will with the wills register – people will still be able to choose to keep their wills in other places. However, depositing a will with the register will mean it can be easily located after a person’s death.

“Ensuring you have a valid will that can be located, whether with your solicitor or lodged with this new wills register, will remove yet another worry for your family at a time of bereavement and disruption,” Mr Dingwell said.

Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury said not being able to find a will could create difficulties in the administration of a deceased estate. 

“It may also mean that the person’s wishes cannot be honoured,” he said. “I strongly encourage Canberrans of all ages, from 18 and up, to establish a will and consider where it is housed.”

“You should keep your original will in a safe place and tell your executor and your family where your will is kept,” Mr Dingwell advised.

The wills register is the creation of the Justice and Community Safety Legislation Amendment Bill 2023 (No 2), which passed the Legislative Assembly on Thursday. It was recommended by an ACT Legislative Assembly Standing Committee on Justice and Community Safety.

The ACT Public Trustee and Guardian will manage the register. Information about wills held by the ACT Supreme Court will be transferred to the Public Trustee and Guardian for inclusion in the centralised register. 

There will be an implementation period to set up the framework for the centralised wills register. After this, the ACT Supreme Court will lose the ability to accept wills for deposit, and the wills will be transferred.

The bill makes other legislative amendments that Mr Rattenbury says will improve and promote better services for Canberrans, including by:

1. modernising succession laws to provide better outcomes and help create a system which is easier to understand;
2. updating tenancy laws, including through a new transitional provision to clarify that no cause evictions are removed from fixed-term tenancies that began before 1 April 2023;
3. amending unit titles management laws to support owners’ corporations to operate more effectively;
4. supporting the Human Rights Commission’s ability to consider a vulnerable person’s complaints in a manner that best protects the person, while ensuring the processes are compatible with the rights of the person complained about;
5. enabling the ACT Ombudsman to access all documents that fall within the scope of an FOI request, even where a document is subject to legal professional privilege; and
6. simplifying processes for government agencies or organisations complying with regulatory requirements under ACT laws.