Writing a Will is an essential step in everyone’s life. It ensures your wishes are in place for after you have passed away. The same amount of importance needs to be placed on safely storing and registering your Will. It’s common to believe a Will is stored in a safe and secure place. Yet, quite often they end up getting lost or cannot be found at the right time.
As part of our Will writing service, we register the location of your Will with Certainty, The National Will Register, at no extra charge. This ensures that the Will can be found if the Will remains in the same place. However, does not mean your Will won’t get damaged if stored incorrectly.
If your Will gets damaged, destroyed, or lost it will have to follow the same process as if you had initially never made a Will. In your living years, you can pay for a new Will, however, if your Will is lost when you passed away, your estate will have to follow the Rule of Intestacy.
Storing your Will in a bank may be a safe place to avoid loss or damage, although it isn’t a great idea. If you have stored your Will in a bank and you pass away, no one will be able to access your Will unless they first get a Grant of Probate. This can delay the release of your Will for several months leaving family members in limbo.
You can make and store as many copies of your Will as you want. Although, only the original, physically signed with witnesses, of your Will is a valid legal document. If the original Will document is missing, then you will be classed as not having a Will and the process will be the same as If you had lost your Will (see no1).
To ensure your original Will is stored correctly, it needs to be safe from damage and easily accessible. This means that it needs to be in a location that isn’t at risk of fire/water damage or theft. A safe that fits these criteria is the best option, however, not many of us have this within our homes.
For the small amount of £9.99 a year, we can safely and securely store your Will in our fully waterproof, fireproof, and theftproof safes.
Passing away without having a valid Will is certainly a situation that everyone wishes to avoid. If you’ve gone to the effort to write a Will, then, the same amount of emphasis needs to be put on its safe storage.
Feel free to contact us to chat about your circumstances and help you secure your wishes.
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