So you’ve finally gotten through the initial step of creating and executing your estate planning documents. Now you’re wondering where should you store the originals. The answer is really simple—in a safe and accessible place. But what does that mean exactly?
Storing Estate Planning Documents in Readily Accessible Places
Your estate planning documents should be stored in a safe, secure location that is accessible to the person you appoint to handle your estate’s affairs after your passing. Frequently, the most logical place for your original estate planning documents is in your home or office, but make sure the spot is protected from fire and floods. A fire and water-proof safe would be ideal, but if you do decide to use a safe, make sure someone you know and trust has the lock combination or key.
Storing Estate Planning Documents With Your Estate Planning Attorney and/or Successor Agent
Some law firms will store your original signed documents for you. If your estate planning attorney offers this, make sure their storage practices- i.e. if they store them on site, or if they utilize a bank (and which one/location). It’s also good to know how long they will retain them and how you can access them if something happens to the estate planning attorney or law firm.
You might also place your documents with the successor agent(s) you named in the document to act in your absence. This person will have the most immediate need to use and/or locate them after your incapacity or death. Ideally, you’ve already talked with them so you know they’re willing and able to take on the job. If everything goes as planned, they’ll have your documents at their fingertips when the time comes and can act quickly and efficient on your behalf. But again, make sure you know their specific practice pertaining to storage of your documents and how you would get them back if something happens to them.
Storing a Virtual Copy of your Estate Planning Documents
Use a virtual document storage service to store a digital (scanned) copy of your original and fully executed documents. Everplans securely store wills, passwords, funeral wishes, and more in your own secure and shareable vault. Once all of the information and documentation is saved, you can choose which parts of your plan you’d like to share with important people, called Deputies. Then, if anything happens to you, your Deputies can access the important information they’ll need, when they need it.
Storing Estate Planning Documents in Safe Deposit Boxes – What Not To Do
Prior generations have frequently have frequently turned to safe deposit boxes in a bank for storage, but these can be hard for your representative to access. Estate planning documents stored in safe deposit boxes frequently lead to headaches and frustration, even when the location is known and your representative has a key. Oftentimes, the documents giving your personal representative the right to access the safe deposit box are themselves in the box. Banks have rigorous requirements that your representative will be subjected to in order to obtain access and locate your documents if your box is in your sole name without your representative as a joint owner – and additional parameters/processes if the key cannot be located. Banks also have limited hours; which can be hassle if something happens to you outside of “business hours”. These issues reduce your successor agent’s ability to act quickly and efficiently on behalf of you and your loved ones, when needed. If you’re successor agent is unaware that you store your original documents at a bank safe deposit box, you also run the risk of the agent not being able to find them and making the assumption or coming to the conclusion that they do not exist.
If you want to place the documents in a safe deposit box, consider putting the box in the name of your revocable living trust. This way, the successor trustee of your trust can gain immediate access to the box when the time comes.
If No One Can Find Your Documents
Resist the temptation to “hide” your documents. People have been known to place their estate planning documents under mattresses, inside books, and even wrapped in plastic in the refrigerator. If no one can find your will during your lifetime, it’s not likely they’re going to be able to do so after your death either.
If your original documents can’t be found after your death, the presumption will be that you either did not leave a will or you intended to destroy it. The court will proceed as though you died intestate, or without a will or any other estate plan. Your assets will pass to your closest kin in an order set by state law rather than by the terms you set out in your estate plan.
Avoid Confusion
Make sure you destroy any old estate planning documents that are no longer valid. Old documents can cause confusion among family members and could lead to litigation. In addition, do not write on your current documents. If you want to make a change, contact your attorney to formally change the document. Handwritten additions are usually not valid and could raise questions about the document.
Communicating Vital Information
Your successor agent should have all the vital, useful, and heartfelt information they’ll need to effectively carry out your plan. Doing this ahead of time, and keeping both your documents and successor agent(s) up-to-date, will help them execute your wishes when the time comes. Keep your important papers and certificates with your estate planning documents. This would include marriage, death, and adoption certificates; deeds and mortgage contracts; updated lists of assets and accounts; list of account numbers with passwords, user ids, and pins; funeral instructions; contracts; letter to loved ones; ethical wills; the most recent investment and bank account statements; and any other paperwork you deem to be important. If you’re a client of Santa Barbara Fiduciary, you know that our Successor Fiduciary Appointment Planning process takes care of this, and much more, for you.
Make sure that all the work you’ve put in to creating a thoughtful and meaningful estate plan serves you, by ensuring that your documents are safe, accessible and available to your successor agent(s) when they need them.
Santa Barbara Fiduciary helps make sure that your affairs are taken care of the way you want and helps alleviate challenges with objective expertise in estate plan implementation and administration. If you have any questions regarding any of the many benefits and services Santa Barbara Fiduciary offers, please don’t hesitate to contact us with your questions.
