Have you considered where you should store your estate planning documents? Keeping them locked away seems like a good idea, but there are some things you should consider before you do so, like how accessible they’ll be to those who need them. Learn more in this post.
Creating an estate plan is something that everyone should do at some point in their adult life. The documents in an estate plan are extremely important. For instance, a well-rounded estate plan would include a Last Will and Testament and a Power of Attorney. These two documents record how you want your assets will be distributed when you pass away, and who can make financial decisions for you when you are unable to do so for yourself.
Naturally, you’ll want to ensure that these documents are stored in a secure place.
While security is important, you should consider whether these documents will be accessible by the people you’ve trusted to handle your affairs. In this post, we suggest the best places to store your estate planning documents to keep them both safe and accessible to those who need them.
Where Should I Store My Estate Planning Documents?
Since estate planning documents contain a lot of personal information, many people think the most secure place to store them is in a safety deposit box. While it might seem like a good idea, storing your estate planning documents in a safety deposit box is generally not recommended as the people that will need to access your documents, like your executor, might be prevented from doing so after you pass away.
Ultimately, where you store your documents is up to you. You’ll need to take into account your living situation, any privacy concerns that you might have, and whether the documents will be easy to access for those who need to carry out your estate plan.
Storing a copy of your will in your Wills.com digital Vault
A unique benefit of creating a digital will is being able to safely store it. Once you have created and signed your digital will it is encrypted and stored in your vault which is accessible through the user dashboard. Using your log in details and 2 factor authenticator code a copy can be downloaded. Also changes to the will can be made at any time through a codicil.
After you have created a will you receive 2 credit card sized plastic cards in the mail. We recommend you store one of these in your wallet and the other one in a secure place around the house and tell the executor and or beneficiaries of the where about of this card. This card will direct the executor to our website where they can retrieve the will and other instructions you may of left behind for them. Please note that it’s only possible to retrieve your last will and testament with a valid death certificate.