The peace of mind that comes with having your estate plan in place is invaluable. You’ve made important decisions about your assets, your loved ones, and your legacy. But have you considered the crucial next step: ensuring these vital documents are safe and accessible when they’re needed most? As your estate planning attorney in Grand Rapids, we want to emphasize the critical importance of proper document safekeeping.
Recent news from the IRS underscores this very point. Their Newswire (IR-2025-55) serves as a timely reminder about the need to protect important records in case a natural disaster strikes. While the IRS focuses on tax and financial information, the same principles apply, perhaps even more so, to your estate planning documents. Not just in the event of a natural disaster, but simply to ensure your wishes are carried out effectively.
Your will, trust, power of attorney, and healthcare directives are the blueprints for how your wishes will be carried out. If these documents are lost, damaged, or inaccessible, it can lead to significant stress, delays, and legal complications for your family during an already difficult time.
Why Proper Safekeeping of Estate Planning Documents is Essential
- Ensuring Your Wishes are Followed: Your estate plan only works if the documents can be located and presented when necessary.
- Preventing Family Disputes: Clear, accessible documents can minimize confusion and disagreements among your loved ones.
- Avoiding Unnecessary Legal Costs and Delays: A lost will, for example, can lead to lengthy and expensive court proceedings to determine your estate’s distribution.
- Protecting Against Loss or Damage: As the IRS highlights, natural disasters like fires, floods, and storms can destroy physical documents.
- Maintaining Privacy: Secure storage can prevent unauthorized access to your sensitive personal and financial information.
Options for Safekeeping Your Estate Planning Documents
As your experienced estate planning attorneys serving Grand Rapids, here are some options for safeguarding your crucial estate planning documents:
Keep Originals in a Secure and Accessible Location
Home Safe/Fire Box: A quality home safe offers some protection against fire and water damage. Ensure someone you trust knows the combination and location. While fire boxes are good in theory, it is important to keep in mind that structure fires burn at temperatures far higher than paper’s combustion point. That means, after a fire, the papers inside your box may be reduced to ash despite the box itself being unharmed.
Safe Deposit Box: Banks offer safe deposit boxes for secure storage. However, be mindful of accessibility, especially after your passing. Ensure someone has the legal right to access the box. If the only copies of the documents granting authority to access the safe deposit box are in the safe deposit box, court proceedings may be necessary just to establish access.
Consider Filing with the Probate Court: Michigan law allows for the filing of a will with the probate court for safekeeping, providing a reasonable option for document storage. However, estate planning attorneys in Grand Rapids tend to agree that this decision should be left to each client on a case-by-case basis. Caution is required as clients may forget they filed it, or which court they filed in, especially if they move, but the practice can establish some protection for individuals with no descendants or trusted loved ones or in circumstances where family disputes are anticipated. The expert Grand Rapids estate planning attorneys at Curcio Law can discuss the pros and cons of this option with you.
Create and Store Copies in Separate Locations
Digital Copies: Scan all your estate planning documents and save them securely on a password-protected cloud storage service or a USB drive stored in a different location than the originals. At Curcio Law, we maintain a digital copy of your estate planning documents in your file and will provide you with same.
Copies with Trusted Individuals: Provide copies to your named Personal Representative, Trustee, and agents under a Power of Attorney, Patient Advocate Designation, or Funeral Representative Designation. Make sure they know where the original documents are located.
Inform Key Individuals of Document Locations: Don’t keep the location of your documents a secret. Clearly communicate where the originals and copies are stored to your Personal Representative and other key individuals.
Review and Update Regularly: Estate planning is not a one-time event. Your estate plan should be reviewed and updated periodically. Often, it is recommended that you review your estate plan at least every five years and especially after any major life event, e.g. death of a loved one, divorce, marriage, birth of a child, purchase of a major asset, etc. It is important to seek qualified legal advice when contemplating changes to your estate plan. Our experienced estate planning attorneys in Grand Rapids can help you evaluate the need for such revisions. Thereafter, ensure any updated documents are also properly stored and previous versions are securely destroyed.
The Takeaway
Protecting your estate planning documents is just as important as creating them. By taking proactive steps to ensure their safekeeping, you can provide peace of mind for yourself and your loved ones.
As your trusted estate planning attorney in Grand Rapids, we are here for your family and to guide you through every step of the estate planning process, including advice on best practices for document storage. Don’t wait until disaster strikes – take action today to secure your future.
Contact us today for a free consultation to discuss your estate planning needs and ensure your important documents are protected.
Curcio Law, PLLC
625 Kenmoor Ave SE Ste 301
Grand Rapids, MI 49546
(616) 226-1861
jcurcio@curciolawmi.com
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