Having
an Attorney prepare your Will allows you to control the way your assets are
distributed upon death. If you have a Will prepared, it is imperative that you
secure your original Will in a safe location so that it may be produced for the
Court following your death. Failing to do so may result in a Court making the
rebuttable presumption that your Will has been revoked or terminated. See In re Fox’s Will.
In other words, unless it is proven otherwise, the Court may conclude that you
intentionally destroyed your Will while you were alive so that the Will could
no longer be enforced.
Recently, the Courts reminded us why this principle is important
in the Matter
of the Estate of Robyn R. Lewis. In that case, the decedent (i.e. the person who passed away) had more
than one original Will but not all of the original Wills were produced for the
Court. As a result, the Court found that the decedent may have revoked the
Will, even though that may not have been the decedent’s intent.
Therefore, it is wise to only have one original Will,
so that you only have to worry about securing that one Will for later
production in Court. Options to secure a Will include, but are not limited to,
leaving your Will at your Attorney’s Office, keeping your Will at your home, or
filing the Will with the Court pursuant to Surrogate’s Court
Procedure Act §2507. Do not keep your Will in a safety deposit box
because it may be difficult or even impossible to access it after your death.
A
person spends time and money to have a Will prepared, and all of that work may
be undone due to a simple mistake, such as neglecting to tell someone where the
original Will is located. If you want your friend to get that piece of jewelry
you promised her in your Will, then you need to make sure you secure your
original Will so that it may be enforced upon your death.
