Who's got the keys to the safe?...

A member of my extended family approached me a couple of weeks ago, asking would I review their Wills with them, as they were drafted approximately 20 years ago.

"Of course I will, once you've dug them out give me a shout and I'll pop over to have a look through it with you both", was my response.

Fast forward to this morning when I received the following text message "We've tried to have a look at our Wills, they're in the safe - but the battery for the digital keypad lock has gone dead, so we've got a problem."

Indeed they did have a problem, but all was not lost, because like any good safe it had a manual override in the form of a traditional key lock. But where were the keys? Cue a frantic 3-4 hours of turning their drawers, cupboards, cubbies, and hidey-holes, inside out to find the missing keys. Thankfully the missing keys were found, and as Peter Kay himself would have predicted, they were in the last place they looked.

But it got me thinking.

You see, no other family members even knew that this safe even existed, let alone being able to point towards its actual location, which was pretty well hidden I assure you, dear Reader! Insurance policies, house deeds, share certificates, vehicle log books, birth certificates - every important document you can imagine, including their Wills, locked away in total secrecy.

The original signed copy of your Will simply must be available upon your death, otherwise you will be deemed to have died intestate, and any wishes or provisions will be lost to the annals of history. Your executors ought to be given detailed information as to the whereabouts of your Will, and the process through which the document is retrieved, whether it is stored in your home, a private safety deposit box, or a other storage facility, such as securely storing your newly drafted documents with Elliott-George Estate Planning.

For more information on secure document storage with Elliott-George Estate Planning, call our team on 01925 321231.