Question on wills

[zetta]

When you make up a will, does a copy normally get filed with the state somewhere, or is it up to you and your lawyer to keep track of it? My dad said a few years ago that I was his executor, but I don't know where his will is stored or who his lawyer is (or for that matter whether I'm still executor).

[scfr]

I believe where you store your original will depends on your state's law (or your father's state's law in this case).

If you are still your father's executor, you could ask him to fill out a Letter of Instructions for you. Financial Planner and PBS contributor Jonathan Pond has a very nice, detailed one that you can download for free from his web site:
http://jonathanpond.com/letterofinstructions.html

My sister* and I are each other's executors and we have completed these letters of instruction and exchanged them with each other. It gives both of us great peace of mind knowing where everything is.

*Off Topic: For those of you who may remember my post about my financially irresponsible sister who needs a personal finance intervention, fear not. My older sister is the one who needs the intervention, but my younger sister (who is financially responsible) is my executor.

[MonkeyMama]

We just prepared our wills in California - we are giving necessary documents to whoever needs them - they aren't filed anywhere - but our lawyer has a copy and our family knows her. BUT she says we would need the originals.

[TBH]

We paid our lawyer a small fee to keep copies of our wills in perpetuity in her safe-deposit box. We have copies in our house, but I wanted one somewhere else in case there was a disaster in our house and I didn't want to rent my own safe deposit box.

I like that letter of instruction idea. I need to do that. We have been procrastinating writing a letter to the folks we've named as alternate guardians of our son. They know we've named them, and so does the rest of the family, but we need to specify a few things.

[vsjhoc]

As far as I know, wills are not filed with the state in advance of your demise.

The worst place to keep your original will is in your safety deposit box. When you die, some states will seal the box and not allow anyone to access it. Even if they do allow access, unless your executor was a signatory on the box before you died, it will be a while before your executor is allowed to open it.

The best place to keep your original will is in a place where your executor knows where it is and can get to it easily and quickly.

Your lawyer's safe should be safe, although the minute they remove it they will probably start charging fees to probate your estate.

Copies are handy but will generally not be accepted by the court for probate purposes.

[JoyJoy]

Go to Nolo.com A good website for all your legal questions.

Some are filed and some aren't. Some wills are written on a piece of paper only and the court takes into consideration the INTENT of the decease. Many wills now are done with the help of a kit and no attorney.

[vsjhoc]

Whatever you do, make sure it complies with the requirements of your state. Failure to get a single detail right (for example, not getting it notarized) could make the will invalid.

Remember Anna Nicole Smith? If her will (which arguable disinherited her daughter) is invalid, much of her millions will be spent on lawyers' fees and probate costs.

[SavedintheCity]

Originally Posted by zetta

When you make up a will, does a copy normally get filed with the state somewhere, or is it up to you and your lawyer to keep track of it?

Wills are private documents until they are public. That means everything in the will is private until it is probated (this is a fancy term that means entered into the Probate Court and accepted as the "true" will and testament of the decedent (dead person)). Once "probated" that will and all its contents are exposed to the public. That is why many people choose to have a "pour over" trust, in which all the decedents assets are bequethed to a trust upon death so that the will is public, but how the money is distributed and to whom is completely private.

Of course, your real question is who keeps the "will" document for the decedent. In many cases (and this varies from state to state) the lawyer who drafted the will, will keep an original copy for the testator (person who's will it is). It is ALWAYS a good idea to have an extra copy of the will with another trusted person. Lawyer lose things, so do trustees. Have extra originals handy.

[vsjhoc]

Originally Posted by SavedintheCity

Have extra originals handy.

I haven't heard of executing more than one original on the same date -- is this common practice? The danger is that if there were some differences among the originals, you wouldn't know which was the latest one revoking the prior ones.