Tips for Disaster Proofing Your Estate Plan

Tips for Disaster Proofing Your Estate Plan

Whenever you work on your estate plan, you likely spend at least some of your time thinking about worst-case scenarios. In addition to accounting for these situations in your estate planning documents, you should also make sure those documents will remain safe if disaster strikes.

Where you decide to store your estate planning documents depends on how difficult they would be to replace and how often you expect to need or revise them. The following are some tips:

  • Safe deposit box: Most banks or credit unions allow you to rent a safe deposit box for a small fee each year. This box offers you a level of security you would not have in your own home. It also has the added benefit of allowing you to store other valuables, such as jewelry, collectors’ items, important family heirlooms and photographs. These boxes are not always convenient options if you want to have your documents easily accessible, however, and it can be difficult for your heirs to access a safe deposit box.
  • Safe: You can get a safe or a deposit box to keep in your own home to store important documents. This box should be lockable, fireproof and reasonably lightweight. Again, it has the added benefit of allowing you to store other important items, while also giving you more immediate access than a bank safe deposit box would. However, this box can be stolen.
  • Attorney: If you worked with an attorney to prepare your estate plan, he or she will likely be willing to keep an original set of the documents on file. This is a service offered by the Tampa estate planning attorney at BaumannKangas Estate Law.
  • Digital storage: Digital storage is a great backup for the original printed documents you have in your estate plan. Ideally, you should have a version stored in an online cloud, along with one stored on your personal hard drive.

Consult an experienced Tampa estate planning attorney at BaumannKangas Estate Law. for more information on how you can effectively disaster-proof your important documents.