Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Virginia
wills
After our lawyer retired and closed his office, he handed us our original Will which he had kept for safekeeping after drawing up the document.My question is, where do we keep the document safely from now on? The will was drawn up about 5 years ago, is still current and there is no need to draw up another document at this time.
I was told a safe deposit box at our bank is a bad idea.Please help.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: wills
Perhaps, a trusted relative or even a friend could be entrusted with the task of safekeeping your will.
Re: wills
The main problem with keeping a will in a safe deposit box or anywhere else is if no one knows it is there. So after you are gone, it is subject to manipulation if someone chooses to lose it or if people overlook it because it is not there. That risk exists no matter where you put it. The best solution is to make sure that all of your heirs know that it exists and know where it is. There is nothing wrong with giving extra copies to interested people with a right to know. And if the original is lost, a copy can be used in its place. However, the problem with giving out copies is if you later change your will and create a new one, then you have different versions out there.
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