All original wills and other documents which are under the control of the High Court in the Principal Registry or in any district probate registry shall be deposited and preserved in such places as the Lord Chancellor may direct; and any wills or other documents so deposited shall, subject to the control of the High Court and to probate rules, be open to inspection.
An office copy, or a sealed and certified copy, of any will or part of a will open to inspection under section 124 or of any grant may, on payment of the prescribed fee, be obtained—
(a)from the registry in which in accordance with section 124 the will or documents relating to the grant are preserved; or
(b)where in accordance with that section the will or such documents are preserved in some place other than a registry, from the Principal Registry; or
(c)subject to the approval of the Senior Registrar of the Family Division, from the Principal Registry in any case where the will was proved in or the grant was issued from a district probate registry.
(1)There shall be provided, under the control and direction of the High Court, safe and convenient depositories for the custody of the wills of living persons ; and any person may deposit his will in such a depository on payment of the prescribed fee and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed by regulations made by the President of the Family Division with the concurrence of the Lord Chancellor.
(2)Any regulations made under this section shall be made by statutory instrument which shall be laid before Parliament after being made; and the [1946 c. 36.] Statutory Instruments Act 1946 shall apply to a statutory instrument containing regulations under this section in like manner as if they had been made by a Minister of the Crown.