Your estate plan should be easy to find when the people you have chosen need it. Protecting the original documents matters, but so does making sure that an authorized person knows where to look and how to obtain them.
Give the original will particular care
A scan is useful, but it does not automatically replace an original will in probate. Florida provides a procedure for proving a lost or destroyed will, with additional proof requirements. A missing original can also raise questions about whether the person who made it intended to revoke it. A clear storage arrangement helps avoid that uncertainty.
At Verras Law, we offer safekeeping of clients’ original estate planning documents at our Palm Harbor office. Read where we keep your estate planning originals for our current arrangements, including how to request their return. Your documents remain yours.
If you keep originals yourself
Choose a secure location that offers appropriate protection from fire, water, theft, and accidental disposal. A household safe may be suitable if the right person can obtain access when needed. Let a trusted person know the location and the access arrangements without leaving sensitive information openly available.
Keep the signed documents intact. Ask before writing on a will, removing its staples, or attempting to change it. Handwritten revisions may not accomplish what you intend and can complicate the administration of your estate.
Understand safe-deposit box access
A bank safe-deposit box is not necessarily inaccessible after its renter dies. Florida law allows specified people, including a spouse, parent, adult descendant, or a person named as personal representative in a copy of the will, to request a supervised search after providing satisfactory proof of death, even without a prior court order. The statute limits the search to specified documents and directs the bank to deliver a will to the appropriate probate court. It does not give the searcher unrestricted access to every item in the box.
Before using a box, ask the bank about its procedures and consider whether it will provide practical access during incapacity as well as after death.
Make copies available for their intended purpose
Your health care surrogate should have the designation and know your wishes. Health care providers should be able to obtain relevant directives. Your financial agent may need a copy of the power of attorney; an original can still be required for certain real estate recording purposes.
Keep a simple list of the documents, their locations, and the people to contact. Review that list after moving, changing banks, replacing an agent, or updating your estate plan. Separate planning may also be helpful when a child becomes an adult or leaves for college.
Contact our office if you would like help making your document arrangements clear and dependable.
Sources: Florida lost-will statute; Safe-deposit box searches after death; Copies of powers of attorney; Health care surrogate designations.
Updated October 26, 2026.