Storage & Safekeeping of a Will
Wills have been stored in bank safety deposit boxes. It may seem a logical and excellent place to keep a will, but it is not. After your death access to your account and safety deposit account will be frozen, pending the reading of the will. However, the will cannot be read because it is in a safety deposit box, which has had its access frozen and will need a court order to open it…
This is just one illustration of how important it is to ensure that your will is stored properly in a way that allows immediate access to it by the executor of your will. No matter how good or valid your will is, if it cannot be found or read, it cannot be administered. If it cannot be administered, then your expressed wishes mean nothing and your family and friends may not inherit your estate in the way you intended.
It is usual for your solicitor to store the original copy of your will for safekeeping. This is generally a good idea. You can take responsibility for your own will if you want, but then you will need to make sure that its whereabouts are known to your executor, as well as to members of your family.
It is a disturbing fact that most people do not know where their parents’ wills are stored. They often do not know whether or not they have a will even. Often it is their own fault. When they are visiting their parents and the subject of death arises, no matter how mature the “children” may be, they usually don’t want to discuss it. Losing a parent is very hard, but when the whereabouts of the will is unknown, the time of grief becomes even harder.
If a will cannot be found after the death of a person, it may be assumed that they have no will. In that case the law steps in and the person has officially died intestate. This means that the estate of the deceased person will be distributed according to certain rules and laws. Usually it does not satisfy everyone, but there is little anyone can do.
If a will turns up after the authorities are satisfied that there is no will, it is too late. Imagine how a family must feel when they can see how the estate was intended to be distributed, and can compare it to how the law actually distributed it.
It is possible to register a will. This means that the whereabouts of the actual document is registered in a central register. It is a digital record of the solicitor who holds the will, and it may also provide information on when the will was made, as well as any changes or amendments to it.
Searching a central registry is a very fast and efficient way to locate a will.
Resources:
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/Death/Preparation/index.htm
http://www.certainty.co.uk/register-a-will/