Keeping your Will Safe
You may already know
about the benefits of
having a Will, after all,
it’s one of the most
important documents
you’ll ever need. But
what about keeping your
Will safe? In the future
when you’re no longer
around and your estate
needs to be distributed,
how easy do you think
this is going to be if
your executors can’t
find your Will because
they don’t know where
it was kept, or if it was
lost or accidentally
destroyed? It’s certainly
not something you want
to have to keep worrying
about, so it’s best to
20
ensure that wherever
you decide to keep your
Will, you know it’s safe
and easily accessible
when the time comes.
What can you do to
alleviate this worry? The
first thing you should
consider is storing your
Will in a safe storage
facility. Your Will Writer
may be able to provide
this for you, or point
you in the direction of
someone who can.
Members of the Society
of Will Writers can store
their clients Wills with
the National Will Archive
where all documents are
checked, scanned and
The Society of Will Writers
databased upon arrival
for added security.
You will also receive
a certificate of safe
storage accompanied
by retrieval cards for
when necessary. Of
course, you will then
need to keep the
certificate safe instead,
however your Will Writer
is an SWW member,
they can also register
the location of your
Will with Certainty the
National Will Register,
so that when it needs
to be found a simple
web search can be
completed to locate
it much easier and
much faster. This is
an invaluable service,
helping
to
protect
against any presumption
of the estate being left
intestate.
Some Will Writers may
have their own storage
facility that they use,
so you may be able
to store your Will with
them directly instead.
You can also store your
Will with a solicitor,
even if they didn’t write
it for you. Be advised
however, that you’re
likely to be charged for
this service and you
may also need to pay to
retrieve the Will.
Another option is to
deposit your Will with
the Probate Service
(England & Wales).