You must have heard all about the importance of creating an estate plan before it is too late. However, not many people will tell you that it is equally important to store your estate planning documents in a safe place. After all, these documents decide what happens with your assets after you die and contain all your wishes. You must keep it safe.

Once you create your estate plan with the help of a Hammonton NJ estate planning lawyer, you must find a secure place to store it. At the same time, the place should be easy to access and safe from people who want to impose harm or take advantage.

Should you hide your Will?

It should be made clear that you are suggested to 'hide' your Will. Rather, you need to store it in a secure place away from prying eyes. There may be people in your family wanting to take advantage of one of the beneficiaries. Therefore, you must secure it.

However, your Will should still be accessible by at least one party after your death. If no one can locate your Will after you pass away, then there will be no record of your wishes. As a result, the court will assume that there is no Will and carry on the procedure as per the state's laws in Hammonton NJ.

If a Will was known to be in your possession, someone could contest this in court. However, the process is complicated and should be avoided as much as possible. The probate process is already a complex and lengthy one. You do not want to create more trouble for your family members.

Which is a good place to store estate planning documents?

There is no specific answer to this question. You have various options when it comes to storing estate planning documents safely. It depends on which option you find the most suitable at the end of the day. Here is a list of all the potential places for storing your important documents.

• A safe deposit box in a bank.
• A waterproof and fireproof at-home safe.
• Office of the attorney who helps you prepare the documents.
• The office of the probate court or court administrator in your community. You can do this with no extra cost or fee.
• Online document storage service. There are both paid and unpaid versions.

How to store estate planning documents digitally?

Thanks to technological advancement, you can now store your important documents digitally. Some options include the following:

• A portable USB drive or external hard drive stored in a safe location.
• Cloud-based platforms, such as Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc.
• Paid document management software.