Skip to content

Questions people ask

Who keeps the original copy of the will?

The short answer

The person who made the will normally keeps the original, or leaves it with the attorney who drafted it or with a court where that is permitted. An original carries weight a photocopy does not, so where it sits matters.

The longer answer

A missing original can be worked around in some circumstances and contested in others, and that uncertainty is the whole reason to be deliberate. Tell the person who will need it where it is. A sealed instruction kept with the box, naming who may be told, does more good than a hiding place nobody else knows about.

Where this appliesWills and estate documents

Know someone who needs this answer?

Text itEmail it

When you are ready, we are here.

A short phone call is usually enough to know whether a box is the right answer. Sometimes it is not, and we will say so.