Original legal documents

J

J.P.

Registered User
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50
Hi,
Can anyone hold the following original legal documents as relevant to themselves ;
  • Original copy of last will & testament
  • Title Deeds to property (home).
Can I retain these documents myself or is there a downside to this for my family when the time comes to sort out my estate whenever I do finally pass ?
The reason I ask is, having acted as an executor to a will recently for my first time, the solicitor for the deceased charged a significant sum of money to obtain these original documents.

Regards,

J.P.
 
What is a significant fee? You can keep them but preferably in a locked fire proof safe.
 
How long did the solicitor have them in storage ? If you needed to pay for this yourself it would around €100 a year so I don't think it's unreasonable for the solicitor to charge accordingly. I also assume he would have not actually charged you the fee if you had given him the probate work.
 
The charge was €750. They would have got the probate & house sale work had they not quoted €13,000 plus outlays + VAT for the work - which i thought was excessive.
 
J.P. said:
Hi,
Can anyone hold the following original legal documents as relevant to themselves ;
  • Original copy of last will & testament
  • Title Deeds to property (home).
Can I retain these documents myself or is there a downside to this for my family when the time comes to sort out my estate whenever I do finally pass ?
The reason I ask is, having acted as an executor to a will recently for my first time, the solicitor for the deceased charged a significant sum of money to obtain these original documents.

Regards,

J.P.
Click to expand...


Yes to both.

I think it's a good idea, in your average happy family situation, to make sure that family members know where to find them and, better again, for family members to have copies.

It's also worthwhile having a solicitor itemise those documents in the schedule of Title Deeds that are vital, those that are irreplaceable and those that can be easily replaced.

Original Deeds, if lost ,cannot be replaced but it may be possible to re-constitute. We are gradually moving towards registered title - 90% of all legal titles in Ireland are now registered but only 59% in Dublin are. Registration is compulsory on a sale but not otherwise.

My practice is Dublin based so I still see unregistered titles on a regular basis.

Older planning documents generally cannot be replicated but copies will, largely, be acceptable.

However, in your non-average unhappy family, it might be better that paperwork is kept with a solicitor to avoid wills going "missing".

mf
 
My SIL passed away last November. It was only in the last month that my husband discovered the title deeds in a box under her bed. He was not particularly looking for them, being neither the executor or a beneficiary. But in looking after his sister’s house, gradually clearing it out, cutting grass etc., he found the deeds. Has now passed them on to the solicitor.
The solicitor had never asked him to search for them, even thought he had been asked to keep maintaining and clearing the house.
 
Places to check for title deeds...........

1. Bank.
2. Solicitor.
3. Top of the wardrobe.
4. Under the bed.

My personal favourite
5. Hot press.

mf
 
I photocopied my deeds and they (the copies) are in my daughters house while I have the copies of her deeds.
 
Presumably it's possible to have an unregistered title converted to registered folio without a sale?
It would avoid all the hassle of storing deeds, losing deeds and so on. Unless the cost was prohibitive, it's probably cheaper than paying for storage.
Yet, nobody seems to do this?
 
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