Probably the best thing you can do is let the
next of kin know that you have a will and either give them a copy or
tell them what your wishes are. Then put a copy of the will where it can easily be found
(such as in your desk
drawer). My wife and I are redoing our will and are letting our sons and my brothers know
what we are
planning. They all will know where to look for the official copy of the will.
Yes, I would say so. In addition, it seems strange to name a person as executor without
telling that person. It
seems better to tell (or rather, ask) first. Then you don?t have to worry about imposing
a duty on someone that
he?s not willing (or, perhaps, able) to accept, and it also solves the problem of others
knowing there exists a will.
I wasn't clear...
Of course the beneficiary/executor/next-of-kin (all one person) knows what my wishes are
and that he
is the exector of my estate. I made sure he was willing to do that before I made my will.
And I have given
him a copy of the will (with 'Copy' written across it so there is no doubt) so
that he knows what to look for and
so he can show anyone else and use it as evidence that a will is likely to exist.
My problem is that I have no family. So if I am run over by an omnibus, or electrocute
myself while working
on an Omnubus PDP8/e how will whoever finds the corpse know to look for the will and who
to contact. One
idea that has been suggested (and which I intend to carry out) is to have a message
hanging on the wall of
the hall giving the location of the will, etc. And to have a card naming next of kin etc
in my wallet. Hopefully
that will be enough.
-tony