It is now possible to order wills online at gov.uk, cost is 10 pounds and takes about 10 days before it's available for download, then you have a month to download , registering is fairly simple.
There are 3 categories -wills & probate 1996 to present, wills & probate 1858-1996, and soldiers wills, as far as I can tell there is no restriction on who can order which seems a bit odd. You just need name & death date to look up the index.
When does research end up being snooping?, I stopped at my cousins on 'ancestry' even though they are grandparents, tried to limit the aunts and uncles spouses families to what was already out there, still I'm sure there are a few noses out of joint