What to Do with Executed Estate Planning Documents
After my clients sign their estate planning documents, I often joke to them, “now don’t be a big hurry to use these.” My hope is always that my clients sign their documents and then remain in good health for many more years or decades, meaning their documents won’t need to be used any time soon. But what should these people do with their signed documents in the meantime?
Storing estate planning documents is a balancing act. On one hand, the documents need to be kept safe; on the other hand, the documents need to be easily accessed by the people named in the documents. In this month’s article, I’ll share some tips on storing estate planning documents so that they’re available when needed and secure at all other times.
Tip #1: Avoid Safe Deposit Boxes. While safe deposit boxes are safe (it’s in the name, after all), that safety can come at the expense of accessibility. Safe deposit boxes are generally only accessible during bank business hours, so anything in the box that is needed at night or on a holiday or weekend will be stuck in the box until the next business day. This could be a big problem if someone urgently needs a copy of a health care power of attorney kept in the box, but is prevented from taking action until the next business day. Even if the bank is open, not just anybody can get inside the safe deposit box. Even being named as agent in a power of attorney or executor in a will doesn’t guarantee access. For these reasons (and others), most attorneys prefer not to have documents kept in safe deposit boxes, favoring less restrictive alternatives instead.
Tip #2: Consider Keeping Estate Planning Documents With Your Other Documents (…But See Tip #1). Odds are good that a person’s estate planning documents are not their only important documents. Most people are in possession of the title to a car, several years’ worth of tax returns, social security cards, birth certificates, passports, and other important records. Whatever file cabinet or drawer has kept these documents safe through the years will also likely make a good home for estate planning documents. Anyone wanting a bit more security than the average file cabinet or desk drawer provides (without the hassle that safe deposit boxes can introduce) might invest in some sort of fireproof and waterproof home safe. These vary in size and price and are available from retailers such as Lowes, Home Depot, Staples, etc. But if you’re planning to use one of these home safes, you’ll want to pay close attention to Tip #3 below.
Tip #3: Make Sure Named Fiduciaries are Informed and Given Access. Regardless of where you keep your documents, make sure you tell your designated agents, executors, and trustees where to find the them. And if you’re using a home safe or similar device to store your documents, make sure your fiduciaries have any keys or passwords they may need in order to gain access to the documents. That way, the people you’re depending on can spring into action without delay.
Tip #4: Destroy Copies of Revoked/Superseded Documents. You not only want your loved ones to find your estate planning documents, you want them to find the correct versions of your estate planning documents. It’s typical for people to revise their estate plans as time goes on. But rather than hold onto all of the past versions of documents, people should destroy those old documents to eliminate the possibility of the wrong documents being utilized. By the way, if you’d like to know when you should consider updating your estate planning documents, take a look at this earlier post on my blog.
I hope this article has been helpful. There are many more articles on a variety of estate planning topics on my blog, and I invite you to take a look for more insights. If you have questions or would like to have a conversation about your own estate plan, I hope you’ll get in touch to schedule a free consultation.
The information contained in this blog post is intended only as general legal information and should not be construed as formal legal advice on any matter, nor should its presentation be construed as intent on the part of The Law Office of Ryan A. Layton, PLLC to form an attorney-client relationship with any user of this website. For more information, please see this disclaimer.