You may have seen the recent articles in the Financial Times and Love Money, confirming that Lloyds Banking Group failed to return the Wills of around 9,000 deceased customers that had stored Wills with Lloyds as part of their ‘safe custody’ service, which was offered by the bank until 2011.
Lloyds Banking Group have stated that they are investigating each case individually but believe that the majority of estates have not been affected. They believe that many of the Wills have copies stored elsewhere or have been superseded by newer Wills.
The effect however of this error will mean that potentially hundreds of estates have been distributed incorrectly due to them not having access to these Wills.
Lloyds Banking Group has pledged to compensate all of those affected, although the reality of such statement is not quite so straight forward, with individual gifts of properties, family heirlooms and keepsakes often being distributed to specific beneficiaries in a Will. If the wrong beneficiaries have received such gifts, it is unclear how the bank believes they can compensate the intended recipients.
Creating a Will is extremely important to make sure that your estate is distributed as you wish. However, this Will could potentially be ineffective if people do not know that you have a Will and where to find it. So it is just as important to consider how and where your Will shall be stored.
So how can you make sure your Will is stored safely, and can be recovered at the event of your death?
Here are some simple steps to follow to ensure your Will is safe, and available when required:
Tell your Executors
It is important that the right people are aware that you have a Will, and where to find it. Upon your death, if the existence and location of your Will are unknown, it will be difficult for your Executors to carry out your instructions.
Make sure you tell your family, Executors, and/or Solicitors where your Will is being stored. You do not need to tell them what is in your Will, just its location.
Store Your Will Securely
It is best to keep your Will stored in a safe location such as with Solicitors or with an external storage company to protect the original Will. For example, if you move to a new property, or your property suffers from water damage, you are at risk of the documents being lost or destroyed.
Storing your Will securely can also make it much easier for your Executors to locate your Will and to make sure they have located an up to date copy of your Will. You can always keep a copy of the Will with your own documents at home.
Destroy Any Previous Out Of Date Wills
If you have previously made a Will, but have now updated it with a new Will, it would be a good idea to destroy any previous Wills that this Will has superseded. This will help to ensure that there is no confusion as to which document is your current Will. For example, if you make a new Will, but a copy of an older Will is found among your documents your Executors may assume that this is your up to date Will.
Your previous Will can easily be destroyed by writing to those holding a copy of the Will. If you have instructed Solicitors to make your new Will then they will often be able to locate previous Wills for you and ensure these are destroyed.
Keep Your Storage Details Up To Date
Once you have stored your Will, it is good practice to contact your Solicitors or the storage company periodically to keep up to date with any changes to their details. Make sure you also provide them with any of your up to date contact details such as address and contact number, should they need to contact you about the storage of your Will.
You can easily contact those storing your Will by calling them, or by doing on online search of the company to check their up to date details.
If you discover that the Solicitors or storage company is no longer is existence, there is no need to panic. You should be contacted in writing if there is any change to with whom and where your Will is being stored. Alternatively, you can make enquires with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) who may hold details of who are now holding the Wills and other documents for the solicitor who made your Will.
If you have made and stored you Will through a Will Writing company that is no longer in existence, it may be more difficult to try and locate where your original Will is located. Will Writers are not regulated and therefore do not have the same obligations to their clients as solicitors do.
You can contact the Society for Will Writers who may hold the information that you need but please be aware that if they are holding your Will they do charge a release fee for your own Will. Whether or not you have been advised of this fee when the Wills are transferred into their custody.
WHAT TO DO NEXT
If you would like any further advice about making a Will, updating your existing Will or indeed about Keeping your will safe in storage, please get in touch today for a free initial consultation. Choose one of the methods on the right-hand side of this page, or call us on 0113 200 9787 to find out how we can help.
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