What to do with our Will now that we have written it?

[KayT]

We have had to rewrite ours as the people we had chosen to care for kids if we both died have become unacceptable to us at this time.

 

Here in Texas we just have to have the will witnessed and notorized but where do you keep it? I have looked online this morning but haven't come up with anything. We kept our previous one in our safe, but was wondering if there was something else we should be doing.

[Peggy in Va]

Do you have a safety deposit box at your bank? That is where my mother kept all of her important papers.

[Marylou]

Wherever you plan to keep it, make sure to tell someone responsible where it is! Not being able to find a will is almost as bad as not having one in the first place!

[xxxxxxxx]

copies of the will to the people who would take care of our children.

[beezus]

Make sure whoever you have named as the personal representative/administrator (and any alternates you may have named) in your will knows where the original is located and is able to get access to it. Safe deposit box is probably okay, just make sure they know how to get into it and let the bank know who those people are so they can actually get into it to get the document.

 

Kathleen

Edited June 29, 2009 by beezus

[beezus]

Oops. Didn't quite finish my thought in the prior post. Keeping the in your safe at home should be just fine, just make sure those who might need to access it have the combination. Presumably those you have named in your will are trusted people and aren't going to be rifling through your safe unless there's a reason for it. It's good to provide copies to those who are named as guardians or administrators so they know what roles you have designated for them, but it is very important to make sure the original can be accessed, because will statutes are usually very strictly construed and the court may require the original.

 

Kathleen

[hsmamainva]

We bought a fireproof safebox at Walmart and that's where we keep our papers.

 

Our will is in there...titles for the cars, the kids' birth certificates and social security cards, etc. It's very handy!

[GoVanGogh]

When we had our will done a few years ago, we were told that we should never store our will in a safe deposit box. When the bank is notified that one or more persons of a safe deposit bank is dead, the bank is legally required to seal the box to protect its contents until -- the reading of the will. If the will is inside the box... it becomes a legal nightmare. I worked for a bank for many years and that was our policy, as well. Thankfully, I never had to deal with that with any customers.

A personal safe at home is probably fine - but you have to make sure that someone else has a key or knows how to access the key.

Think through the situation... You and your spouse are dead or in ICU. A family member or trusted friend comes into your house. They need to be able to find the documents. Where would be the most likely place someone would look? That's where they need to be, if they are in your home.

Otherwise, you can give a copy to a trusted friend or relative.

Our lawyer told us to give a copy to our son's guardian, as they will need it immediately.

 

We are in a position that we need to redo our will, as our guardian, too, has become unacceptable. :tongue_smilie:

[G5052]

In both the state where my parents lived and where I live now, if there are multiple people on the safety deposit box, the remaining people will still have access if one dies, especially if you can provide a copy of the will. When my dad died in April, it was not a problem to go through the safety deposit box and make sure that my brother was set up along with my mother. To take his name off, I just took a death certificate.

 

FWIW, you're smart to have copies in multiple places, period. A good friend's house burned down several years back and they had a top-quality fire-rated home safe (not a fire box) with their personal and business records in it. When they finally got it open, it was a mess of ashes and melted plastic. The fire was over pretty quickly but burned them almost completely out, and then they didn't have any of their records either. Now they keep their records in multiple places (so do we).

[ekarl2]

When we had our will done a few years ago, we were told that we should never store our will in a safe deposit box. When the bank is notified that one or more persons of a safe deposit bank is dead, the bank is legally required to seal the box to protect its contents until -- the reading of the will. If the will is inside the box... it becomes a legal nightmare. I worked for a bank for many years and that was our policy, as well. Thankfully, I never had to deal with that with any customers.

A personal safe at home is probably fine - but you have to make sure that someone else has a key or knows how to access the key.

Think through the situation... You and your spouse are dead or in ICU. A family member or trusted friend comes into your house. They need to be able to find the documents. Where would be the most likely place someone would look? That's where they need to be, if they are in your home.

Otherwise, you can give a copy to a trusted friend or relative.

Our lawyer told us to give a copy to our son's guardian, as they will need it immediately.

 

This was also the advise from our attorney. We have a fireproof box (unlocked) under our bed. It's for our valuable papers (but no monetary value items. That way it can survive a fire, but a lost key won't be an issue.

[AuntieM]

Just want to add that wherever you decide to put it, TELL somebody where you put it!

 

DH's cousins are still tangled up in the probate of their parents' estate, both were killed in a terrible auto crash. They were not able to find anything - no will, no insurance papers, no papers related to the family business - all they could guess was that somewhere it was all tucked safely away, in a place no one was told about. They really did not need headache upon tragedy...

 

Interesting about the bank sealing the safety deposit box. We'll have to look into that, that's where the in-laws have their will, and dh is a keyholder. We may have be sure there's an additional copy elsewhere.

[AuntieM]

When we had our will done a few years ago, we were told that we should never store our will in a safe deposit box. When the bank is notified that one or more persons of a safe deposit bank is dead, the bank is legally required to seal the box to protect its contents until -- the reading of the will. If the will is inside the box... it becomes a legal nightmare. I worked for a bank for many years and that was our policy, as well. Thankfully, I never had to deal with that with any customers.

Our lawyer told us to give a copy to our son's guardian, as they will need it immediately.

 

Just curious... who notifies the bank that a boxholder has died? Wouldn't a family member have to do that? I don't imagine it's the authorities. Maybe the insurance company?

 

Really just trying to figure this one out, anybody know?

[KayT]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I was hoping it could be recorded at the county courthouse or something, I guess not since I can't find anything about that any where online. Good to know about the safety deposit box, and I will give a copy of the will to my brother as he is who we have named to care for our kiddos.

[athena1277]

My DH was in a class dealing with making wills, etc with the AF and he was told to put the will in a ziploc bag and put it in the freezer. The reason being that in case of a fire, those supposedly fire-proof boxes often still burn, but the inside of your freezer will still be intact, even in very high heat.

[mommylawyer]

In all honesty, I haven't read all of the responses, so if I'm repeating something someone has already said, my apologies.

 

When I draft and then have the client execute (sign) their will, I make them at least 2 copies - one for their own records and one for the executor of their will (they don't have to give it to their executor, but it helps). I then advise them to file it for safe-keeping with the probate court. The probate courts in Georgia, for a fee of around $10, will keep the original will in a safe place until it is revised, added to, or until it is time for the will to be read/probated.

 

See if some facility at your local courthouse - whether it be the probate court or the clerk of court - provides that service.

 

The next best place is a safe deposit box (SDB), but make sure your executor has access to that box. The worst thing that can happen is if you pass and your will is locked up in a SDB and no one knows where the key is.

 

Regardless of what you do with your original, make sure your executor knows where the original is and can gain access to the original upon your death.

 

Good luck!

Edited June 29, 2009 by mommylawyer

[Kathy in MD]

When we had our will done a few years ago, we were told that we should never store our will in a safe deposit box. When the bank is notified that one or more persons of a safe deposit bank is dead, the bank is legally required to seal the box to protect its contents until -- the reading of the will. If the will is inside the box... it becomes a legal nightmare. .......

 

:iagree: Our attorney told us the same thing. We left our will with the attorney because we were leaving the country for 2 years after makig the will.

 

A fire proof safe in your house is probably ok IFF you don't live in an area where natural disasters don't overly destroy homes. For example, beach houses that might be washed out to sea, flooding that might seep into the safe and destroy the original, mud slides burying houses, tornados (unless you have a basement) etc.

[Kathy in MD]

Just curious... who notifies the bank that a boxholder has died? Wouldn't a family member have to do that? I don't imagine it's the authorities. Maybe the insurance company?

 

Really just trying to figure this one out, anybody know?

 

A family member typically tells them very promptly to present forgeries and presents a death certificate. If it's forgotten, the executor will notify the bank, and then present papers allowing the executor to tap the account to pay bills and disburse money per the will.

[Kathy in MD]

My DH was in a class dealing with making wills, etc with the AF and he was told to put the will in a ziploc bag and put it in the freezer. The reason being that in case of a fire, those supposedly fire-proof boxes often still burn, but the inside of your freezer will still be intact, even in very high heat.

 

And the humidity won't get to the paper and allow mold to grow. We lost some papers that way, even though they were in a zip lock baggie.