Where’s the Safest Place to Keep Your Will?
The legal power that your Will warrants serious consideration for where it is kept. It is the type of document that is easy to tuck away in some cupboard, and it’s even easier to forget where it is! Your Will Lawyer in Brisbane has some tips on how to store your Will and Estate documents safely.
The risks of storing your Will and Estate, and other important documents at home are numerous. Firstly, the obvious risk is that its location may be forgotten. When you die, your Executor will need to find the original Will in order to carry out its directions for your children and family. It may take them days, or weeks, to find the Will, if they find it at all. Alternatively, they may find an older Will that was revoked by a subsequent one, without being aware of the existence of one that is more up-to-date. Documents that may accompany and complement the Will (such as a Codicil, which amends particular sections) may not be found with the Will itself. Clearly, this can get very messy and can delay the administration of your estate significantly.
As we approach the beginning of another storm season, Queenslanders should be wary of the risks posed by a Will that is kept at home. Floods can happen at a moment’s notice, and family photos and expensive electronics are more likely to be prioritised than the five-year-old Will that is tucked away in a filing cabinet. A similar issue lies in the risk of house fires, which can be even more sudden and devastating.
Another issue with storing your Will at home is that it decays. Many clients will not have any need to pull their Will out for years, or decades. This can mean that the Will gets mouldy or nibbled at by small bugs that love to eat paper! What may seem to be minor damage to a Will can have major consequences for an Executor, who will usually need to apply for Probate from the Supreme Court. Probate will not be granted to an Executor unless they provide a good explanation for any marks or damage. This explanation requires separate forms to Court and will usually increase the legal fees if the Executor has engaged a law firm to handle the Administration of the Estate.
For these reasons, we recommend to all our clients that they store their documents in our Safe Custody, a service offered free of charge. Those who do so have their most important documents stored in our fully indexed, fire-proof, flood-proof safes. We send our clients scanned and hard copies of their documents for their own records. This also means that all our client’s documents are easily accessible and in one place, and if our client requires another copy, or a certified copy, we can provide it at a moment’s notice.
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