Will Storage: is there a better alternative?
Legal document storage in the UK is a perennial problem, and we only know of one firm which offers a service that is genuinely fit for purpose. Make sure YOURS is sensibly and securely stored. The best option, we believe, is option 6, as we have worked hard with them to design the best possible service combining security with ongoing information and advice. Your Legal Planning is not a one-off event. It is a long-term strategy that must evolve as circumstances, the law, and tax issues change.
There isn’t any particular place where the law says you must store your original Will. But they are critical documents which need both careful secure storage and regular review. Review is the key, and is sadly missing from most options. Choose the option that’s safest and most appropriate for you. I believe the last one wins hands down, but I did design it!
DOWNLOAD Storage Options include Probate Registry Form
Point 1. Bear in mind that most storage facilities make you your own Legal Adviser, so you will have total, unassisted (in most cases) responsibility for being aware of when your Will (or other documents) need updating.
- Your Will must also be able to be found, easily.
- The correctly signed and witnessed will needs to be produced to the Probate Registry as part of the application for a Grant process
- There is also the issue of whether the RIGHT Will, or indeed, any Will can be found after you have expired. Our page on finding a Lost Will is, sadly, very popular.
- I believe that the longest a Will should be left without at least a simple review is 3 years, as the world changes so fast. And you need to be up to speed on Tax, Legal and Family circumstances which might affect you or those you want to benefit. Many people end up leaving their assets to the Local Council or the wrong half of a divorcing child. Some home-owning families are paying up to £140,000 in needless inheritance tax for lack of regular checks.
So here are some of the options (I have to say that I designed the last one, which I consider to be the wise solution, though it may not be unique.
If you were looking to Find a Will, click.
A better Storage system is needed.
The Probate Registry themselves offer a cheap and cheerful storage service, send them a special envelope and they will pop it into a vault and send you a flimsy storage certificate to lose. And it only costs £20, one-off. Details below.
We have a better (if not quite so cheap) service provided by Will Custodian Ltd (which also owns this site). Contact us for the details (or use the enquiry form at the foot of the page). Their service offers
- Secure storage.
- Laminated storage certificates for you and your executors.
- Annual Checklist to see whether family issues mean review is needed.
- Annual Newsletter to update you on relevant changes in tax, the law etc.
- Free advice (but not free amendments) – just a discount on those as long as the amendments are made by one of our contacts.
- How? Stick it in an envelope with the direct debit and send it to us by recorded delivery (for your own safety).
- Unlike the Probate Registry, we will also store Powers of Attorney etc at a small extra cost.
- Free Registration with the Certainty National Will Registration Service.
- A check that the Last Will seems to have been signed correctly – rather important as many Wills are found to be incorrectly signed and witnesses after death.
This is what happens to your Legal Planning with the shifting sands of time, family, legal and tax changes:
via GIPHYIt may soon become out of date, even if you are quite unaware of it, and in some cases, a simple change could save £140,000 in Inheritance Tax. We believe a review every three years is a minimum.
1) Solicitors Storage.
Solicitors often offer storage for “nothing”. It isn’t because they are such nice chaps, it’s because they hope to get the probate business when you die. That is where the expression “goodwill” comes from, and the number of Will in storage has a big influence on the value of a solicitors’ practice. Bereaved family members going in to collect the Will are fairly easy to sign up for probate without carefully reviewing the fees on offer, never mind negotiating them. Solicitors increasingly move, amalgamate and go out of business.
2) Lifetime Will Storage.
Some firms charge an upfront fee for lifetime legal document storage. which is something we are not keen on. In many cases, the form offering the lifetime storage service is not substantial enough to carry the costs of storage for the next 50 years. Especially if they offer a lifetime of free amendments and updates – they would have to put most of the fee into reserves to be able to survive, and most of them just don’t have the financial muscle to do that.
3) Bank Storage. NOOOOO!
Banks offer storage facilities, but the only problem is that your executors will have no right to access your stored documents until they have a Grant of Probate. And they can’t get a Grant of Probate without getting the documents from the bank store. Make sure this situation is covered, as the banks are absolutely right to refuse access – they don’t know what is in your storage box, and only a Grant of Probate authorises anyone else to access any of your assets!
4) Home Storage.
Oh, dear. Apart from the fact that most home safes will incinerate documents in them if there is a fire, you run the risk of accidental and deliberate loss. Greedy folk who think their husband / wife is being unfairly treated are likely to throw away the Will. This then means that the Rules of Intestacy, or possibly an older Will, apply, so your wishes could be ignored!
5) A Basic Option: The Probate Registries Storage service:
- Your documents can be deposited either by you or by someone else on your behalf.
- If you deposit your Last Will and codicil at the same time together in the same envelope the fee is still £20, payable to HM Courts & Tribunals Service.
- As I understand it, there are delays in acknowledging Wills sent for storage. If you need to chase, use sa***********************@*********ov.uk
Brought in by you in person.
Take your will to the Probate Registry of your choice (check opening times beforehand). They give you an envelope to complete as follows:
- The document(s) being deposited.
- The date of your document.
- Your full name.
- Your full address.
- The full names and addresses of your executors.
- Your date of birth.
- The Label PA7ENV on the envelope. How to Withdraw a will from Probate Registry Storage
Ideally, in past times, in the presence of an officer of the Probate Registry seal your Last Will and testament inside the envelope and sign the envelope in the proper place. The Probate Officer will then sign the envelope, you pay, and they send the envelope to the Principal Registry of the Family Division for safekeeping. You will either be issued with a certificate of deposit straight away or your certificate of deposit shall be posted. Your documents will NOT be checked.
Sent in by post.
Seal your will inside the envelope and in the presence of a witness sign the envelope at the proper place. Your witness must also sign the envelope and print his/her name and address.
Send your will (by registered or recorded post) with a signed letter requesting that your will be lodged at First Avenue House and enclose the £20.00 fee to:
Record Keeper’s Department, Newcastle District Probate Registry, 2nd Floor, Kings Court, Earl Grey Way, North Shields NE29 6AR (NOT the Principal Probate Registry in Holborn)
You will get a letter of receipt which should be carefully preserved but may take some time to arrive.
6) The Peace of Mind Service.
The best system we are aware of is run by our sister company, Will Custodian Ltd. Their Will storage system offers:
- Copy documents for you.
- Laminated storage certificates for clients and executors. NOT just a single-page letter.
- Regular Newsletter about changes in Tax and the Law.
- Regular Checklist of some family and personal issues which may require changes.
- Above all, a free advice line for their clients who need advice – most of whom would not have realised there was an issue without the Newsletter and Checklist! We provide the advice, they do the rest.
- Check for the correct signature.
At the time of writing, this service can cost as little as £19.95 a year, for Will storage and all the other services
Keeping your Will safe and Legal Planning up to date – Peace Of Mind
As an integral part of your own Estate Planning process, we recommend Will Custodian Ltd’s Peace of Mind Service which offers a simple and inexpensive way of keeping your Last Will and other legal documents safe, and helps you to keep your Legal planning up to date as life, tax and laws change.
For most people, those changes pass unnoticed and sometimes result in the total loss of inheritance to family members, or the total loss of control of the family over a member’s life can be devastating. And with ongoing advice, totally avoidable.
That is why the Peace of Mind Service was set up by Will Custodian Ltd (they provide the mechanics and storage, and others provide the advice.)
We get calls every day from people who have lost out because their parents or other half failed to get advice when it was needed. With the Peace of Mind Service advice is readily available and in most cases there is no extra charge. Where amendments or detailed advice are necessary, there is a substantial discount on the cost.
It is a simple service that keeps costs down but means that your Legal Planning is likely to stay on track and achieve what you want from it, which is usually to make sure that your family benefits from your lifetimes hard work, and that you are fully protected as far as the law reasonably allows from having your life taken over by Social Services.
Why not check out the Peace of Mind Service or give us a ring on 01323 741206.
Secure Storage for your Last Will and testament is vital.
If your Last Will cannot be found when you die, it is probable that everything will be distributed according to the rules of intestacy.
Lots of people never sign their Wills properly, so they are never valid in the first place.
Storage for your Legal documents.
Remember we are NOT the Probate Registry and it is very unlikely a Will stored with the Peace of Mind Service will not be found easily unless the deceased AND the executors have all lost their laminated storage certificates and don’t check with the National Will Register!
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