Important Steps to Ensure Your Will is Accessible to the Executor

Where you store your will is an important consideration. This is because you want your will to be easily accessible to the executor. It ensures unnecessary delays can be avoided.

For a will to be carried out properly, it is your executor who will do it. Therefore, the executor needs to have access to your will. This will enable them to apply to the Family Justice Courts for Grant of Probate (GoP).

What You Need to Consider

When storing your will, safety is the most important factor to consider. It is imperative your will is kept in a safe place. This will prevent any tampering or destruction attempts. Examples of a tampered will include ink smudges, illegitimate corrections, or torn pages.

When a will is deemed tampered with, there will be legal contests that happen. These legal contests are to ascertain the validity of your will. Where you store your will is something you need to give serious thought to. Wills can easily be misplaced or destroyed by accident. Perhaps someone in your household might throw the will away without you knowing. It takes a lot of time and resources to replace or search for a missing will.

Who Should Keep Custody of Your Will

A lot of professional services now offer this option. 3E Accounting associate is one of those. We will keep your wills in a secure and safe environment. You have peace of mind knowing your will is in good hands. We ensure that your wills are kept in such a way they can never be tampered with or forged.

Some banking institutions offer a security deposit box service for your will storage. DBS is one example. However, depending on the bank, the rates could be rather costly compared to a professional services agency.

Registering Your Will Information

Besides planning how to store your will, you will need to register your information. This can be done with the Wills Registry and your loved ones can gain access to your will. The Wills Registry is maintained under the Singapore Academy of Law.

This registry is confidential and information is kept in the system for 120 years, starting from the date of birth of the will-maker. Please note that your actual will is not kept at this facility. The registry only provides information about the following:

The will’s date
The details of who the will belongs to
The details of the person who made the will
The details about where the will is kept

The benefit of this registry is that your loved ones will know you have a will. They will also know how to retrieve the will, no matter where you kept it.