Where to Store Your Will So Your Executor Can Find It
When deciding where to store your will, you can choose home storage, a professional provider or HM Courts and Tribunals Service. Wherever you choose, protect the original from loss and damage, and tell your executor where it is and how to obtain it. Security and access both matter.
Signing a will can feel like the last step. There is still a practical question to settle: if the person carrying out your wishes needed the document, would they know where to begin? A safe place that nobody can identify can leave your family with an avoidable search.
Where to store your will: the available options
GOV.UK lists home storage, a solicitor, a bank, a will-storage company and the national probate registry as possible options. Availability and arrangements differ, so ask the intended provider directly. Do not assume that a business will hold your original simply because it helped prepare the document.
Storing an original will at home
Choose a secure location and consider practical risks such as damp, accidental disposal and damage. Keep the document separate from papers routinely thrown away. If you use a locked container, think through how the appropriate person would find and access it when needed. A location note should be understandable without relying entirely on your memory.
You do not need to circulate the contents to everyone. It is possible to explain where the document is kept without discussing gifts or beneficiaries. Decide who needs the location information, and share it privately.
Professional will storage
Before using a solicitor, bank or storage business, ask whether it accepts original wills, what it charges and what the arrangement includes. Ask how the original is released after death, what evidence is needed and how you can retrieve it during your lifetime. Keep the provider's written terms and current contact details.
Also ask what happens if the business closes, changes ownership or transfers its records. Do not rely on an old trading name alone. A storage reference and an address make the information more useful to an executor.
Storing your will with HMCTS
HMCTS offers secure storage for wills and codicils sent by post. Its current guidance explains the PA7ENV label, packaging and payment or help-with-fees arrangements. Follow that guidance rather than sending the document to a court address found in an old article.
Make a copy before sending the original. HMCTS issues a lodgement certificate after the will is stored. Keep that certificate and the safe custody reference somewhere your executor can identify. Check current fees and instructions directly before making arrangements.
HMCTS also publishes a separate withdrawal procedure. The documents required depend on who is applying and whether the person who made the will has died. Executors should use the current guidance, including any requirements relating to other executors, rather than assuming a telephone request is sufficient.
Tell your executor where the original will is kept
GOV.UK recommends telling your executor, a close friend or a relative where your will is. A useful location record can state the date of the will, the storage address, the provider's contact details and any reference. If there are codicils, record where those are held too.
An illustrative will-storage arrangement
Consider this hypothetical example. Someone stores the original with a professional provider and keeps a clearly marked copy at home. A separate note gives the provider's name, reference and retrieval contact. Their executor has the same location details. When storage changes, they replace the note and tell the executor. This is a practical arrangement, not a rule that everyone must follow.
Keep sensitive access details secure. You do not need to publish passwords or place private information in a family group chat. The aim is to make the route to the document clear to the appropriate person while preserving sensible privacy.
Keep copies and will-storage records clear
A scan or photocopy is useful for reference, but distinguish it clearly from the signed original. An executor should not assume that finding a copy resolves every issue if the original cannot be located. Missing originals can require specialist advice, particularly if the circumstances or competing documents are unclear.
Avoid leaving several unlabelled versions together. If you have drafts, copies and a completed document, make their status clear without writing informal amendments on the signed will. A storage note records location; it does not change who inherits.
Review will storage when your circumstances change
Moving house is a useful prompt to check that the original, copies and location record have all been accounted for. If your executor changes, give the right person the updated details. If the storage provider changes its address or reference system, replace the old information.
Review the will itself after significant life changes. GOV.UK recommends reviewing it every five years and after major changes. Any alteration must be made properly, through an appropriately executed codicil or a new will. Do not try to update gifts or executor appointments by adding a note to the storage envelope.
Practical help with making or reviewing your will
If you are preparing a new will or checking an existing one, include storage in the completion discussion. Ask which document you receive, who will keep the original and what information your executor should have. Confirm any separate storage service and charge before agreeing to it.
H.A. Law Advisory offers will preparation and review within its non-reserved services for clients in England. Enquire about your requirements or book a discovery call to establish the appropriate service. A disputed estate or missing original may need specialist solicitor advice.
Official guidance on storing your will
General information for England and Wales, checked on 19 October 2026. H.A. Law Advisory's service audience is England. This article is not advice on an individual will or estate.
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