Frequently Asked Questions

National Storage for Wills specialises in providing secure, long-term storage solutions for your Will and other important legal documents. Our services include climate-controlled storage facilities with state-of-the-art security systems to ensure your documents are protected against theft, loss, and damage. National Storage for Wills provides retrieval and delivery services, making it convenient for you or your designated representatives to access the documents when needed. By choosing National Storage for Wills, you can have peace of mind knowing that your important legal documents are safeguarded with the highest level of security and professionalism.

Storing your Will at home may seem convenient, but it comes with significant risks such as loss, fire, or theft. If your Will cannot be located upon your death, the law presumes that you have destroyed it, which means you are considered to have died intestate. This can lead to complicated estate distribution or even unintended inheritances, adding stress and confusion for your loved ones during an already difficult time. National Storage for Wills offers secure, professional storage solutions that ensure your Will is safe and easily accessible when it's needed most, providing peace of mind for you and your family.

All our client’s documents are stored off site in a Secure Storage unit and as an added precaution, all signed documents to be stored are scanned in advance and those scanned copies are stored in our Electronic Filing system held on our secure server.

With our Unlimited package, you can store unlimited documents including Wills, Memorandum of Wishes, LPAs (Lasting Power of Attorney), Life Insurance Policies, Property deeds, and other valuable papers. For standard packages, you can store your original Will and up to two sets of Lasting Power of Attorneys. These packages are designed to cater to different needs, offering flexibility and peace of mind knowing your documents are safely stored and easily accessible when needed

You can store your Will for as long as you like. Your last original Will needs to be kept safe for lifetime as it will be required to apply for grant of probate upon your passing. You can retrieve your Will at any time during your lifetime without explanation. Wills are typically requested for probate or due to updates to be made by the testator (the person whose Will it is)

Storage is paid for by Direct Debit mandate and is taken on your specified date on a yearly basis. For detailed pricing information, please refer to our Fees page.

National Storage for Wills will provide you with confirmation of all documents held in storage. This confirmation should be shared with your appointed executors, attorneys, or beneficiaries for their safekeeping. The confirmation email will include: A comprehensive list of all documents stored with National Storage for Wills. Full contact details, including the location of the stored documents and instructions on how to retrieve them when needed.

Should you require your documents out of storage for any reason at a later date, then you will need to make this request to us in writing. In order for us to return your documents to you, your storage payments will need to be up to date. Once this has been confirmed your documents will be retrieved from storage and posted out to you. Your signature(s) will be required on delivery.

We have all heard the horror stories of what could happen when a Will falls into the wrong hands and so you need to be able to guarantee that your Will remains safe until this event and that only your chosen Executors know exactly where your Will is located. Using National Storage for Wills Service ensures that your Will is kept safe and can be released to your Executors at the time of your death. This also means that the content of the document is kept private until death occurs. Your Executor(s) will be provided with a certificate confirming that your Will is in Secure Storage, but a copy will not be released to them until after your death. Your wishes will only be made known to your Executors after you have passed away.

Our stringent privacy policies comply with data protection regulations to safeguard customer information

While it’s advisable to inform trusted individuals about your Will's existence and location, its content are normally kept private until after your passing to prevent potential conflicts.

Using the contact form on our website's "contact us" page, complete and submit your details. We will then email you the next steps for storing your documents.

Mrs. Jones passed away suddenly, and her original Will could not be found when her family searched for it. Although she had been separated from her husband for many years, she had not finalized their divorce. The family knew she had made a Will and that she had given a copy of the signed document to one of her daughters for safekeeping. This copy confirmed that Mrs. Jones wanted her children, not her estranged husband, to inherit her estate. However, the family was unaware of the legal presumption that if an original signed Will cannot be found among the deceased's papers, it is presumed to have been destroyed, and the deceased is assumed to have intended to revoke it. Since the original signed Will could not be located among Mrs. Jones' papers or elsewhere, this presumption applied, and she was treated as having died intestate. Consequently, her Will did not take effect, and her children did not inherit her estate as she intended. This situation caused frustration and distress for her children and strained their relationship with their father, who refused to reallocate the assets he inherited under intestacy. Had the original signed Will been properly stored and easily located upon her death, Mrs. Jones' wishes would have been honoured, and her children would have inherited her estate as intended.

Mrs. Smith spent the last year of her life in a nursing home. Whenever anyone visited her, she consistently mentioned that her original Will was in a box under the coffee table at home. After Mrs. Smith passed away, her family attempted to locate the original, signed Will as per her instructions, but it was nowhere to be found. It wasn't in a box under the coffee table, in any other box in the house, or anywhere else on the property, despite an extensive search that took months. Many visitors had heard Mrs. Smith speak of her Will, providing witness testimony that she did indeed have a last Will and intended it to be honoured. A copy of the signed Will was eventually found, and an application was submitted to the Probate Registry to request that this copy be admitted to probate. The witnesses confirmed the location of Mrs. Smith’s last Will and provided affidavits to the Probate Registry, affirming their belief that she wanted the Will to be considered valid, countering the legal presumption that she might have destroyed it. The Probate Registry notified those who stood to inherit via intestacy, inviting them to contest the Will in court if they wished. In this case, the potential beneficiaries chose not to challenge, and the Probate Registry ultimately admitted the copy of the signed Will to probate. This process took nearly two years to complete following Mrs. Smith's death and caused significant uncertainty for those she wished to benefit. It also substantially increased the cost of administering the estate. Had the original Will been properly stored and easily located after her death, it would have saved considerable time and expense associated with obtaining witness affidavits and applying to the Probate Registry to admit the copy. Furthermore, it would have eliminated the need to notify various potential beneficiaries and the risk of litigation, thereby preventing potential discord among family members.

Mr. Williams revised his Will multiple times over the years, adjusting the amounts he bequeathed to various individuals as his relationships with them evolved. After his death, a search of his papers revealed several Wills, each with different provisions. This discovery caused confusion, and some beneficiaries learned that they were slated to receive larger sums under earlier versions of the Will, leading to significant distress. Had Mr. Williams stored his Wills securely, the beneficiaries would not have known the contents of any previous versions. Consequently, they would have been spared the emotional turmoil of discovering that Mr. Williams had altered his Will and treated them differently at various points in his life.