Lost Wills
I was flicking around the news sites yesterday whilst I had a spare 5 minutes, like you do, and came across a story about a new "Will Bank".
"Huh?" was my first thought, quickly followed by "What a good idea!".
We are to get a storage bank in Perth to deposit your last will & testament into for safe keeping. Apparently the Public Trustee (not sure who he or she is and what they do, that will take a little more flicking around on the old web) receives more than 20 calls a week from people who either don’t know whether their deceased loved one had a will or who know they did have a will but couldn’t find it.
I have to say that I am the person in our house who looks after the insurance policies and other legal documents and, although I have said to husband on many a time that this is where he can find this and that, I'm still not sure that he actually knows where everything is. I'd go for this in a flash, you can always keep a copy at home and them a spare in the Will Bank just in case.
Plus if you lose your copy through a fire or move you can be sure that the other copy is well kept in purpose-built vault, safe from loss, theft or any other damage.
I'd like to see it changed slightly so that you could keep other important relevant documents with the will like life insurance.
To store your will in the WA Will Bank, take your will and two types of identification to the Public Trustee at 565 Hay Street, Perth and fill out a lodgement form. The Will Bank service is free for people who lodge their own wills, although people lodging wills on behalf of others will be charged $195.
You've always had the option of a safety deposit box at your bank for valuable documents and stuff, but this does sound like a good idea. At least relatives who may not know you've got a safety deposit box can just check if you've got a will. Sounds like your husband is like mine - leaves it all to me and wouldn't have a clue if I wasn't here!
Posted by: Carol Marshall | July 06, 2009 at 08:57 AM