Can’t Find Your Original Will?

Original documents are just as important as ever in today’s digital age…some would argue even more so now with the onslaught of ways to manipulate or alter original documents. 
 
The probate court will accept only an original when the time comes to probate a will. If you try to submit a copy of a will for probate, the probate court will reject your copy and proceed as if no will ever existed. Trust me when I say that the court staff will confirm that the document submitted is an original. I recently tried to file a very convincing copy of a will that was printed on onion paper with the Montgomery County Probate Court. The clerk dabbed her hand sanitizer on the signature to check. When the ink didn’t smear, she informed me that the document was a copy and refused to accept it for filing.
 
While the technological and environmental climates of 2021 may suggest it is due time we go paperless, original estate planning documents remain critically necessary. Protect these documents the same way you would protect your birth records or any other legal documentation. 
 
Because documents should be easily identifiable as originals, our clients sign everything in blue gel ink. This is one step you should take when signing any document. Not only does it make the document easily identifiable as an original, it makes it harder to duplicate.
 
Keeping track of original documents can be a nuisance, but until Ohio law provides an alternative, be sure to keep your originals so that your estate is administered as you planned. If you have retained a law firm that holds the only set of your original documents, we suggest that you ask that firm to surrender its originals to you. You do not want to be stuck with the nuisance of tracking down original documents, if for some reason the law firm that holds your documents closes and you are unable to obtain access to the originals.