The Safest And Most Practical Places To Store Your Will

Where To Store Your Will

A Will can be stored in your home in a personal safe, a locked filing cabinet, or in another safe location. If you store your Will in a location that requires a combination, password, or key for entry, be sure to share that information with someone you trust, such as your spouse, your adult children, or your attorney.

Storing Your Will With An Attorney

Many estate attorneys and personal attorneys will be able to store your Will in a secure location in his or her office. If you choose to store it with your attorney, be sure to tell your family that you’ve done so.

Never Store Your Will In A Safe Deposit Box Unless Someone Else Has Access

Unless the box is jointly managed (and your survivors are authorized to access the safe deposit box), the bank will likely require a court order to access the box, which could take a long time.

Informing People Where Your Will Is Stored

We can’t stress this enough: Wherever you store your Will (like in your Everplan... hint, hint!), make sure that important people you trust know where it's located so they can easily access it when the time comes. If you spent time, effort, and money to create a Will, and no one knows it exists or where it is, it’s as if you never did it at all.

For more advice on how to store important documents, see Organize and Share Important Documents.