Following on from recently recording a Zoom video chat with a lovely business friend of mine, Allison Dore of Hello Friday Virtual Business Support, I thought it was worth doing a short post identifying some hints and tips for keeping your Wills safe:
- The best option is to have it professionally stored, off-site, to prevent against flood or fire but make sure your Executor and/or family know who to contact. There is usually a small annual fee for this service.
- If it is to be stored in your home, make sure it is somewhere where your executors will be able to find it, for example not in piles of paperwork, or the pockets of a suit
- Store it somewhere where it’s unlikely to be damaged, like a fire-proof safe
- Don’t just tell your executors where your Will is stored, write it down in case they forget
- If you do have additional copies, remember where they are and who has them. Each time you update your Will all old copies will need to be destroyed to avoid any conflict or confusion once you’re gone
- Consider using Certainty, the National Will Register to register the fact you have written a Will and also where it can be found. Once you're gone your Executors and family can search on Certainty to find out how to locate it. There is a one-off fee of £30 (currently, Oct 2020) for the registration.
