The original signed and witnessed Will is the only legally binding document, acceptable to the Probate Registry and your Executors will be expected to produce this at the time of your death.

If it was last in your possession and has been lost or mislaid the court will presume that you revoked it during your lifetime. In this situation an earlier Will (if one exists) could be proved, or in the absence of any Will the laws of intestacy will apply. If your Will is damaged in any way which might cast doubt as to the contents of the Will or raise questions as to why the damage was inflicted, the courts could throw the Will out as being invalid. Copies of a Will are not acceptable, (whilst they may prove that a Will was made, they do not prove that it was still in force at the time of death).

You need to keep your Will in a place that�s safe and secure - though not so safe and secure that no one can find it when needed!

A4THOUGHT can arrange storage of Wills and associated documents through the National Will Safe Document Storage facility (the recommended storage company for members of the Institute of Professional Will Writers).

For a small annual fee the benefits include:

� Security of speciality document archive

� Safe and confidential storage

� Secure against water and fire damage

� Fully insured

� Free retrieval

� Your Will recorded on the National Wills Register

If you decide to take up this option, because we will be taking away the original Will, we will give you a copy of your Will for your information. It will be clearly marked as a copy and have our phone number on it so that if anybody finds the copy, they will know who to contact to get the original. You will also be issued with plastic identity cards for yourself and your executors � on the front is our phone number and on the back is your name and unique ID number. When you need to access the documents you can do so easily by a simple phone call. We will either bring the documents back to your home in person or send them by special delivery at no cost to you, whichever you prefer.