Who is entitled to see a will after death in Scotland?

Who is entitled to see a will after death in Scotland depends largely on what stage in the estate administration someone is wishing to see a will.

Estate administration can broadly be split into two stages - before and after the grant of confirmation. Confirmation is a legal document granted by the court which gives the executor(s) title to in-gather the assets in the estate.

Before confirmation is granted: Who can see the will?

Before confirmation is granted the only person who is entitled to see a will is the executor. The executor is the person appointed in the will to deal with the administration of the estate. It is, however, good practice to allow the residuary beneficiaries to see a copy of the will. Residuary beneficiaries are those who are entitled to receive a share of the estate rather than just a cash sum or item. The residuary beneficiaries will be entitled to a copy of the estate accounts which will contain much of the information held in the will.

It is important to note that if the deceased person or their executor decides to register the will with the Registers of Scotland then it will be public document. This means that from the point of registration onwards anyone can request a copy of the will for a small administration cost.

Legal Rights claims

Although a spouse, civil partner or children are not entitled to see a copy of the will prior to confirmation being granted (unless they are the executors of the estate), the executor will need to inform them of their entitlement under the will so they can decide if they wish to claim their legal rights.

Even if no provision in a will is made for a spouse, civil partner or children, they have a right to inherit either one-half or one-third of the deceased’s moveable estate, known as their legal rights entitlement. You can find out more about legal rights in our blog: Legal rights of children & spouses in Scotland explained: Forced heirship.

Contesting a will

A will can be contested on various grounds, including incapacity, undue influence, facility and circumvention, or fraud. In order to contest a will, you must have reasonable grounds to do so and must also have an interest in the deceased’s estate. If you wish to contest a will prior to confirmation being granted and do not have access to a copy of the will, you will need an order from the court for it to be disclosed to you.

After confirmation is granted: Who can see the will?

Once confirmation has been granted and the will is registered with the court then it becomes a public document. This means that anyone can contact the relevant court and request a copy of the will for a small administration cost.

Some estates do not require the grant of confirmation. For example, low value estates often do not require confirmation as the asset holders will be willing to release small sums without confirmation. In these cases, if someone who is not the executor wishes to see the will then they would need to raise legal action to request it. They would only be able to do this if they had reasonable grounds to do so e.g. they believed the executor was not giving effect to the provisions in the will and they were due to benefit.

If you wish to obtain a copy of someone's will or wish to limit access to your own will, there are steps which can be taken. If you wish to discuss these steps, we recommend contacting one of our wills lawyers.

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FAQs on challenging or contesting a will

Who can request to see a will after someone dies in Scotland?

Prior to confirmation being granted by the Sheriff Court, only executors (and their solicitors if they are appointed to act on behalf of the executor) are entitled to view the contents of a will. If the executor registers the will with the Books of Council and Session, it becomes publicly available, anyone can request a copy for a small fee.

After confirmation is granted, the will becomes a public document. At this point, anyone can request access from the relevant court it is registered with, for a small administrative fee.
What is the process for obtaining a copy of a deceased person's will in Scotland?

A copy can be requested from the relevant court that has registered the will. This will be available to obtain for a small administration cost after confirmation of the estate has been granted. Alternatively, if the will has been registered with the Books of Council and Session prior to confirmation being granted, a copy can be requested from Registers of Scotland.

Where confirmation is not required for the estate and the will has not been registered with the Books of Council and Session, a court order or legal action can be raised to have the will disclosed to you if you have reasonable grounds to do so.
Are beneficiaries entitled to see the will in Scotland?

Beneficiaries are not entitled to see the will if they are not the executor, although it is generally good practice for executors to provide them with a copy. Beneficiaries are, however, entitled to a copy of the estate accounts, which will contain much of the information held in the will.

A spouse, civil partner or children need to be informed of their entitlement under a will so that they can choose if they wish to claim their legal rights.
How long after death can a will be contested in Scotland?

If making a legal rights claim in Scotland, you have up to 20 years from the date of death to make this claim.

For contesting a will on grounds such as incapacity, or undue influence there are no strict statutory time limits in Scotland. If you wish to contest, a claim must be made within a reasonable timeframe. If you believe you have grounds to contest a will, we recommend you get in touch with one of our lawyers as soon as possible to discuss your claim.
What happens if the deceased did not leave a will in Scotland?
If someone dies without a will, their estate will be distributed according to the rules of intestacy. If someone is domiciled in Scotland, succession of their estate is governed by the Succession (Scotland) Act 1964, as amended by the Succession (Scotland) Act 2016 and the Trusts and Succession (Scotland) Act 2024. This legislation sets out a hierarchy of entitlement as follows:
1. Prior rights for a surviving spouse or civil partner. This covers both heritable and moveable assets up to a set amount.
2. Legal rights for children and/or the spouse or civil partner. They are entitled to either 1/3 (if both children and spouse/civil partner survive) or 1/2 (if only children or spouse/civil partner survive) of any remaining moveable estate after any prior rights have been deducted.
3. Free estate. This covers everything in the estate after the deduction of any prior rights and legal rights. The act sets out an order of priority of family members of the deceased, with children coming first. If there are no family (however remote) of the deceased, the free estate will be paid to the crown.
Co-habitants have no automatic entitlement to a deceased’s estate under intestacy and can apply to the court for an award. The timeframe for this is currently 6 months. This has been extended to 12 months under the 2024 act, however, at the time of writing, this provision is not yet in force.