If you’ve recently had your will created or your estate plan updated, congratulations says Rudy Beck of Beck, Lenox & Stolzer! You’ve ticked a big check mark on your grown-up to-do list. However, you’re not done with estate planning, according to a recent article from USA Today, “You Made a Will—Now What? Storing It Properly Is Just as Important.”
Less than a third of Americans have a will, which should be concerning for their families and loved ones. Perhaps more worrisome: those who do have a will and other estate planning documents have their materials in a drawer, a filing cabinet, or a home safe they haven’t looked at in years—or decades.
Once the ink is dry, the estate plan isn’t done. If your family doesn’t know where to find the will, and unless it’s updated, secure and accessible, even the best estate planning documents won’t work as intended. If the will can’t be found or is out-of-date, the entire estate will need to go through probate, regardless of all the planning you’ve done. Paperwork piles up, court fees get bigger and families who should be focusing on grieving and helping each other during a major loss are instead dealing with bureaucracy and managing a rudderless ship.
For more tech-savvy individuals, a digital vault may be the solution. These are encrypted, cloud-based platforms used to store wills, trusts, passwords and essential documents in one online location. The goal of the platforms is to allow executors, attorneys and family members to access the documents they need when they are needed. The systems are built with permission and authentication for security.
If you’re not comfortable putting your life online, an alternative is to have a fire- and flood-proof safe in your home and ensure that your spouse, executor and trusted family member know where it is and how to open it when needed.
The digital vault offers some significant benefits. If adult children and grandchildren live in another state or another country, they will be able to access documents regardless of their location. This also allows you to store digital assets, including photos, utility logins and even instructions for final wishes, so that others can access them.
Many people already have a digital vault through their financial advisor’s office. However, they may not have considered that it could also serve as an estate planning tool. Be sure to learn how to share the login information with the intended recipients properly.
If a will can’t be found, if multiple wills are found, or if the will is so out-of-date as to be found invalid, planning can be undone. Securing the will is as important as creating an estate plan with the assistance of an experienced estate planning attorney. Peace of mind comes from knowing that everything is in place and that anyone who needs your information will be able to access it in a timely manner. So while you are waiting to come in and sign your documents, make sure you figure out how and where to store your will. If by chance, you are in that majority group of people who don’t yet have a will, contact us to schedule a free initial phone consultation. Schedule here.
Reference: USA Today (Aug. 15, 2025) “You Made a Will—Now What? Storing It Properly Is Just as Important”
