Is my Will safe if I keep it at home?

When thinking about securing our estates after our loved ones pass on, we often focus on the importance of having a Will. However, not many people point out the importance of storing your Will securely, to ensure a person's last Will and Testament can be found when the time comes.

Sometimes our clients have spent years wondering how to keep their will safe, moving it from the jewellery box, to a box of trinkets under the bed, downloaded to a CD hidden in a locked safe, or even in an online password secure folder. None of these are truly secure places to keep your last wishes safe, and certainly won't help when it comes to trying to find it!

The risks of trying to 'hide' your will at home include things like misplacing it, forgetting that password, family not being able to find it or that your will gets damaged in a house fire or water damage. When this happens, most people do not think to replace it straight away, and you could even forget what was originally written. It also means that it can be almost impossible to update - you've now got a little villa in Spain that you didn't own 10 years ago, but how are you going to add that to your will if it's locked in a box under the stairs that you can't find the key for, or it's in a file somewhere that someone spilled tea on at some point?

At Wills Made Clear we store your Will securely with the National Will Register to ensure that when the time comes, your wishes are found and can also be updated at any time you need it to be, although there are several other options for keeping your will safe.

If you'd like to find out more about storing your last Will & Testament safely, just get in touch with Jane at info@willsmadeclear.co.uk