Where Should I Store My Will in Maryland?

A person’s last will and testament is a very important document and should be treated as such. In addition to carefully considering the contents of your will, you should also consider how it is stored in Maryland.

Properly storing your will is important. Otherwise, it might not be found upon your death. Start by registering your will with the Register of Wills Office in Maryland. That way there will be a copy of your will in a secure location. You can also keep a copy with you, our lawyers, or your personal representative. Keeping a copy in addition to registering your will is important so that you can more easily review your will periodically. If you do not register your will or keep it in a secure yet accessible location, it might be not located after your death. Should this happen, your assets will be distributed according to intestacy laws. Depending on your relationships with your heirs, the distribution of your assets might not be in accordance with your actual wishes.

To discuss your case for free with our Maryland wills and estate planning lawyers, call Rice, Murtha & Psoras today at (410) 694-7291.

Storing a Will in Maryland

Safely storing a will is important so that a testator’s wishes are honored after their death. In Maryland, you can register your will so that it is kept safely within the records of the Register of Wills Office. You can also keep a copy in a safe place in your home or with a trusted loved one if you want to refer to your will from time to time.

Registering It

Anyone executing a last will and testament should register it with the Register of Wills Office in Maryland. Once our Baltimore wills and estate planning lawyers have completed your will and gotten it properly signed by yourself and two witnesses, we can send it to the Register of Wills Office in a sealed envelope along with your name, address, Social Security number, and the date of the will. There is a $5 fee for registering a will in Maryland. Registering a will is not required by law but is a wise decision that ensures there is a copy of your will in a safe and secure location. Only testators, or individuals with approval from testators, can withdraw wills from the Register of Wills Office in Maryland. If you change your will by executing a codicil, send those changes to the Register of Wills Office as well. Everyone with a will in Maryland should register it with the Register of Wills Office, as doing so ensures that a government agency has a copy of the correct will in case of the testator’s death. This can allow your beneficiaries to avoid issues should your personal copy of your will not be located following your death in Maryland.

Keeping a Copy

In addition to registering your will in Maryland, you might want to keep a copy for your own records. Because you have registered your will, keeping a copy in a safe or lockbox is fine. While others will not be able to access this safe following your death unless they know the code, that will not prevent your will from being honored as long as there is a copy with the Register of Wills Office. Our attorneys can also keep a copy of your will if you would like. The personal representative of your will can keep a copy of it as well. This is a safe bet, as they will be the person designated to manage your estate following your death, so you will likely be comfortable with them knowing the contents of your will before your death.

Keeping a copy of your will after registering it with the Register of Wills Office may be important for several reasons. First, reviewing your will every few years is good practice. Relationships change over time, and you might want to amend certain aspects of your will to include or exclude beneficiaries. Or, if your personal representative dies or becomes incapacitated, you might want to change that aspect of your will. Having a copy with you allows you to look over your will periodically and identify changes you may want to make.

What Happens if You Do Not Properly Store a Will in Maryland?

If you do not register your will with the Register of Wills Office or a copy of your will is not otherwise made available following your death, your assets will be distributed according to Maryland’s intestacy laws.

Having a will means little if it is not found following your death. Storing a will in a secret location unknown to anyone or failing to register it in Maryland may lead others to believe that you never executed a will at all. In these instances, intestacy laws will be applied to your estate.

Intestacy laws state that a decedent’s assets are distributed to their heirs. This includes their living spouse and children. Depending on the case, a decedent might not have wanted all of their assets to go to their living heirs. They might have wanted certain assets to go to charity or to specific friends or relatives.

Furthermore, suppose you named a personal representative in your will, but you did not store your will properly, and it was not located upon your death. In that case, the probate court will name a personal representative. Typically, this will be a person’s spouse or child. The individual named as your personal representative might not be who you wanted, possibly leading to issues with your estate. To avoid such complications during the probate process, make sure that you properly store your will and register it with the Register of Wills Office in Maryland.

Call Our Maryland Lawyers to Discuss Your Will

You can call Rice, Murtha & Psoras at (410) 694-7291 to have our Annapolis wills and estate planning lawyers review your case for free.