After my Dad's second heart attack he updated his will. He tried to talk to me about it but foolishly I didn't take him on as after near losing him it wasn't a topic I was ready to deal with it. We were pretty tight and saw each other a lot figured we would look at it at some point.
Weeks later he passed away, I could not find the will anywhere. Employed a solicitor to check with all other local solicitors if they held it but no luck. One of his friends had witnessed it and knew what it contained but without a copy..... I just didn't want the responsibility of being the executer and he hadn't nominated anyone that we knew of so fell to me. Would have traded the estate for another hour.
I recommend going to a solicitor who specialises in wills and has experience of them being contested. I had one of his ex girlfriends come out the woodwork looking for tens of thousands and was difficult to deal with.