The Worst Places to Store Your Will

Your estate planning is only effective if, at the time it needs to be implemented, the plan can be found. It doesn’t get much worse for a family member, such as a child, then trying to find a document that they are pretty sure exists and that they are pretty sure you didn’t change or destroy. There are some simple, tried, and true locations for storing your documents and making your family’s life easier. Then there are some terrible places. Here are some of the latter.

• At your office. Storing your documents at your office is an unwise proposition. In the hustle of everyday work life, the documents are much more likely to get misplaced, misfiled, or generally lost in the shuffle of other documents that might come across your desk. Furthermore, if the documents are there, and even assuming your kids know to look there, your employer or partner is not going to be thrilled to have one of your family member’s digging through business documents, cabinets, and drawers trying to find the fabled Will.
• In some random drawer at your house. We often go with what is easiest, and when it comes to storing estate plans, that can often be those three drawers to the left or right of where you sit. If that is where you want to store the document, realize that the document may be overlooked or one day the whole drawer and each of its comrades may be carelessly cleaned out during some callous act of housecleaning, either during your life or after.
• Only with your attorney or accountant. It is fine for your attorney or your accountant to have one copy of your Will. But make sure it is just that: one copy among many. If something ever happens to your professional advisor there might be no one to tell you where your document ended up. If their offices burn down, your plan may be entirely eradicated. Keeping a plan with your professional advisor is a great idea since he or she can step in and help guide your family. However, your professional provider cannot be your only storage solution.
• Just somewhere. This response comes up more often than one would think. A individual is pretty sure they have an estate plan, and they know its somewhere, like at home, or at the bank, or at the office, or with the attorney. It’s definitely at one of those places. It should be readily apparent why this is a problem. 

If you are looking for advice for the best places to store your estate planning documents, you can’t go wrong keeping the originals in a fire-proof safe at home or a safe deposit box with a financial institution. From there, it is never a bad idea to keep one copy with a secure cloud storage service and another with your professional advisor of choice.

Don't hesitate to contact Goosmann Trust Law Counsel at (712) 226-4000 if you have any questions.