When it comes to making a Will, you can end up making changes as your life changes. In fact, it is highly recommended that as elements of your life change, you should update your Will to reflect those changes. But should there be multiple copies of your Will floating around, especially if you have many several revisions to it?
The Short Answer
The short answer is not really. There are a lot of problems that can arise if there are multiple copies of a Will floating around, especially if those who are not happy with the contents of the Will get their hands on a copy and make changes to their benefit. It can be a long and expensive process trying to sort out which Will is genuine and should be followed. However, the long answer is a little different.
The Long Answer
The long answer is that it ultimately depends on what you mean by multiple copies. If you have one that is kept in your home, one that is held by a Will storage service, such as the one run by WillFinda, and one that your solicitor or executor is holding, then it can be extremely beneficial.
Realistically, any more copies than this is problematic as it can lead to the problems mentioned above. What is important to remember is that whenever you update your Will, you must also update all of the copies to ensure that they are all up-to-date and do not contradict one another.
Not being able to find the Will
One of the biggest problems that family members have once someone dies is trying to discover if a Will has been made or not. Especially if they have never seen a copy of it. Things can also be complicated if you expressed an intention to create a Will but then never mentioned it to anyone again. Having copies of the Will that can be found amongst your financial documents, one held by the executor and one held by a Will storage service, means that it is much easier to find a copy of the Will.
Misplaced or Missing Wills
Though it is often thought to be nothing more than a plot device for murder mystery novels, Wills can be misplaced and go missing. If only paper copies of a Will are held, then fires, misplacing them during a move. In nefarious circumstances, Wills can be stolen in order to prevent them from being read by people missing out on what they consider to be their inheritance.
Having multiple copies of the Will can be helpful if one copy goes astray, especially if you don’t mention to those named in the Will how many copies there are. It is best to keep the information about the location of multiple Wills limited to the estate’s executor and let your family know that there is a copy of your Will amongst your financial papers.
Weeding out fakes
Wills can also be replaced by forged Wills after someone has died. If there is only one copy of the Will, and it is kept at your home, then it can be readily replaced, and your wishes won’t be followed. By having multiple copies of your Will that are identical, you can somewhat prevent this from happening, or at least make it easy for fake Wills to be weeded out. This is another reason that it is wise not to let anyone other than your executor know that you have made multiple copies of your Will.
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