Your Wills are so important to you, probably one of the most important documents that you’ll ever take out during your lifetime, yet very few people actually believe it’s necessary to protect them, mistakenly believing their Wills are safe at their home-or even the home of one of their beneficiaries, say their children for example. 

 

So what can possibly go wrong if you kept your Wills at home? Well lots actually, such as water or fire damage, theft or misplacement of them. What if someone didn’t like what they saw in your Will after you have died and they decided to “put it up their jumper” and then destroy it, meaning your belongings would not go to the people you wanted it to. As an example, if there is anything contentious in your Wills, then you definitely don’t want certain people getting access to them, especially if your children, or other beneficiaries are receiving unequal shares of your estate. If your Will goes missing or cannot be found-the dreaded laws of Intestacy will apply and you do not want that! 

One of the biggest issues we have coming through our office is relatives contacting us on the death of one of their family members or friends asking us if we have the original Will of the deceased….if that particular client hasn’t stored their Will with us and the original cannot be found, then the government will end up instructing their family or friends where the deceased’s estate is to pass to by law and you really would not want that to happen to you. 

 

The amount of times we hear our clients say “oh we have got a secure safe box upstairs” or “it’s fine, I’ll give the Will to my son, he’ll look after it”. These are not a safe environment for your important Will/s to be kept. 

 

For a tiny annual fee, we strongly advise you to tuck your Will/s safely away with us in our secure storage facility and none of the above will apply for you and your family. 

 

The other benefit of storing your Will/s with us is we can help your executors/trustees to understand what steps need to be taken when you eventually pass away and they come to administer your estate.