How to Store Your Will Online and Keep the Original Safe

You can store a copy of your will, and everything around it, online. You cannot store the will itself online. In the UK the signed original is the only version that counts, so the safest set-up has two parts: the paper original in a secure, findable place, and an online record that tells your executors where it is and what else they will need to deal with.

This guide covers both parts. It explains where to keep the original in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, what it costs, what to avoid, and how to store your estate details online so that nothing is lost when someone has to step in.

TL;DR

Only the original signed will is legally valid. A scan or PDF stored online does not replace it.
The official option in England and Wales is to deposit your will with HMCTS for a one-off £24. In Scotland the Register of Deeds charges £20.
Storing it at home is free, but fire, flood, loss and accidental disposal are real risks. Safety deposit boxes can be hard to open after death.
Whatever you choose, tell your executor where the will is and how to get it.
Use an online estate record for the rest: assets, accounts, contacts and instructions, kept up to date and shared with the right people.

Can you store a will online?

Yes and no, and the difference matters.

A will only works if the original, signed version can be produced when the time comes. MoneyHelper, the government-backed guidance service, is clear that an online digital copy does not replace the original. If the original is lost or destroyed, your executors may face delay and extra cost proving what you wanted, and in a worst case the estate may be shared under the intestacy rules instead.

So think of online storage as a safety net and a signpost, not a replacement:

A copy of the will gives your executors the wording and helps them see what you intended while they look for the original.
A note of where the original is held (which registry, which solicitor, which drawer) points them to the document that matters.
An estate record lists the things a will does not: accounts, policies, pensions, property, digital accounts and who to contact.

A will does not say where your pension is or which bank holds your savings. That is the gap an online record fills.

Where to keep the original will in the UK

The options differ a little depending on where you live. MoneyHelper lists the main choices: the Probate Service in England and Wales, the Register of Deeds in Scotland, a solicitor, or at home in a fireproof safe or secure filing cabinet.

Option	Where it applies	Cost	Main advantage	Main drawback
HMCTS (Probate Service)	England and Wales	£24 one-off	Official, secure, held by the courts	Posted in; you need to tell executors it is there
Register of Deeds	Scotland	£20	Official record	Scottish rules only
Solicitor or will-writing firm	All parts of the UK	Varies by firm	Easy to ask for it back	Depends on the firm staying in business and being traceable
Home (safe or filing cabinet)	Anywhere	Free	Immediate access	Fire, flood, loss or someone throwing it out
Bank safety deposit box	Anywhere	Varies	Physically secure	Can be inaccessible until probate

England and Wales: HMCTS

HM Courts and Tribunals Service will keep your will and any codicils for a one-off charge of £24. You post the will in a labelled envelope, with the fee, and you can withdraw it at any time. If you have a codicil, send it in the same envelope so you are not charged twice. Some people on benefits or low incomes can get help with fees.

This is the oldest form of safekeeping there is. HMCTS holds paper wills dating back to 1858 in the Principal Registry and District Probate Registries, and since 2021 it has created digital copies of new wills deposited with it.

Two practical points. First, your executors will need to know the will is there; a registry will not ring them. Second, if someone later needs to look at a will held by the registry, there are fees: in 2026 inspecting a will with an officer present costs £24, and a copy outside a standard probate application costs £16.

Scotland: Register of Deeds

In Scotland you can store your will with the Register of Deeds for £20. Scots law differs from the law in England and Wales in several ways, so if you live in Scotland, check Scottish guidance on how your will must be signed as well as where it can be kept.

Northern Ireland

Probate documents in Northern Ireland are searched and copied through the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, which charges specific fees for certification and copying. That is the route for finding wills that have already gone through probate. For safekeeping while you are alive, a solicitor in Northern Ireland is the usual route, so ask about their storage terms.

A solicitor or will-writing firm

Many people leave the original with whoever drafted it. That can work well, but ask three questions before you agree:

Is there a charge for storage now, and will it change?
What happens to my will if the firm merges, moves or closes?
How will my executors find out the will is with you?

The Law Society expects firms to have a clear policy on storing and destroying wills and probate documents, so it is reasonable to ask to see it in writing.

At home

Keeping your will at home costs nothing and it is always to hand. The risks are the ones you would expect: damage, loss, accidental disposal, or destruction by fire or flood, with delays if executors cannot find it. If you go this way, use a fireproof safe or a locked filing cabinet, keep it with other important papers rather than in a random drawer, and make sure at least one other person knows where the key or code is.

What to avoid

Be wary of safety deposit boxes. MoneyHelper warns they may not be accessible until probate has been granted, which is a problem when the will is the thing needed to get probate. Also avoid anywhere only you know about, and anywhere likely to be cleared out in a house move, such as a loft or a garage.

How to choose where to store your will

MoneyHelper’s advice boils down to this: pick somewhere safe and accessible, and tell your executor where the will is and how to get it. A few questions help you decide.

Could it survive a fire or flood? If the answer is “only if I am lucky”, look at an official registry or a solicitor.
Can the right person reach it quickly after you die? A locked box with the only key in your pocket is not accessible.
Will anyone know where to look? An original in a perfect location is useless if nobody knows about it.
Will you update it? If you change your will, the old one must not stay in circulation. Make sure the new original replaces the old one wherever it was held.
Does the cost make sense? £24 once is small next to the cost of a disputed or missing will.

Writing your own will: what keeps the original valid

You can write your own will, and for a straightforward situation many people do. A free guided tool helps you cover the usual points: who gets what, who your executors are, and who looks after any children. What makes it valid is not the software, though. It is the signing.

In England and Wales a will has to be signed and witnessed properly. Get this wrong and the will may not stand, however clear your wishes. Before you sign, read the official guidance on how to sign and witness a will, and be careful about who acts as a witness, because a witness who also benefits from the will can lose their gift. If your situation is complicated, for example a business, a blended family, property abroad or a large estate, speak to a solicitor who specialises in wills and probate before you sign.

After signing, protect the original:

Do not staple, pin or write on it. Marks can raise questions later.
Keep it flat in a plain folder or envelope.
Never make changes by scribbling on it. Use a proper codicil or write a new will.
Store the original using one of the options above.

Storing everything else online

The will is one document. Settling an estate means finding and dealing with dozens of things: bank accounts, savings, pensions, insurance, property, business interests, subscriptions and online accounts. When these are missing from the picture, assets go unclaimed and executors lose weeks on detective work.

An online estate record solves a different problem from a will registry. Here is what is worth keeping there:

What to list	Where to find the details
Bank and building society accounts	Statements, banking apps
Pensions (workplace and personal)	Annual statements, provider letters
Life and other insurance	Policy documents, insurer emails
Property and land	Title documents, mortgage statements
Business interests and shares	Companies House records, share certificates
Digital assets and online accounts	Email, cloud storage, crypto wallets, social media
Your will and where the original is held	Your registry receipt, solicitor letter or home safe
Professional contacts	Solicitor, accountant, financial adviser

Keeping it secure

Security should decide where you store it. The National Cyber Security Centre notes that modern cloud services can provide access controls, auditing and the ability to change or revoke permissions. Those are exactly the features you want for sensitive family information: you choose who can see what, you can see who has looked, and you can take access away.

The NCSC also points out that complex files such as Word or PDF documents carry more risk than simple formats, and that sanitising a document can remove hidden information before it is shared. In practice: do not email your documents around, share only what a person needs, and prefer a single controlled place to a trail of attachments.

A few habits make any online store safer:

Use a strong, unique password and two-step verification.
Never put passwords or PINs in the will itself, because a will becomes a public document once probate is granted.
Give your executors a way to reach the record after your death, rather than relying on them guessing logins.
Review it once a year, and after any big change such as a house sale, a new pension or a divorce.

How your executors will find your will

Here is where many plans fail. The will is safe, and nobody knows where.

An executor can use the National Will Register to find where a will is stored, or contact the solicitor or bank where it may have been kept. A register of this kind is a permanent record of where the original is held, which helps even if you move house, change solicitor or the original firm closes.

To make this easy for them, do all of the following:

Tell at least one executor, and ideally a trusted family member too, where the original is.
Write down the location in your estate record, with any reference number from the registry or solicitor.
Keep the receipt or confirmation letter from wherever you deposited it.
Update the note if you move the will.

Our view: a will and a connected estate belong together

We built WillFull because we kept seeing the same pattern. People did the hard thing and made a will, then left everything else in their heads, in drawers and in old emails. When someone has to deal with the estate, the will tells them who inherits, but not what exists.

We think the two jobs should be separate and linked. The original signed will stays somewhere safe and findable, as the law requires. Alongside it, your estate details live in one place and stay current: property, accounts, pensions, insurance, business interests, digital assets. A will is a snapshot that is out of date on the day you sign it, while your finances keep moving.

Our view: a will and a connected estate belong together — overview diagram

That is why our Connected Estate pulls in details such as HM Land Registry and Companies House records automatically, keeps a live Inheritance Tax estimate, and lets you decide who sees what. It also means your executors get step-by-step guidance and the details they need, not a bundle of paper and a guess. We would rather an executor spends their time grieving and sorting practical matters than hunting for forgotten accounts.

We will not claim a digital record replaces the signed original. It does not, and we say so to everyone who asks.

— the WillFull team

Making your will and keeping your estate in order with WillFull

If you do not have a will yet, you can create a legally valid one with a step-by-step guide in plain English, free. Once it is signed, you still need to store the original using one of the options above.

If you want your wider estate recorded and kept current, the Will + Connected estate plan is £9.99 per month. It adds estate tracking, live updates, Inheritance Tax estimates and executor access. You can start with your will on WillFull.

Willfull

If you are an executor and the person who died had no active plan, we offer one-off access to their connected estate details for £200. You can read how that works on our page for executors.

Common mistakes when storing a will

Keeping only a scan. Helpful, but not valid on its own.
Telling nobody. The most common failure by far.
Leaving it in a safety deposit box. It may be locked away exactly when it is needed.
Holding several “latest” versions. Destroy or clearly mark old drafts, and make sure the signed original is the one that is deposited.
Forgetting codicils. Store them with the will, in the same envelope.
Never reviewing. Marriage, divorce, children and property purchases all change what a will should say.

FAQ

Where is the best place to store a will in the UK?

There is no single best place, but the official registries are the strongest choice for most people. In England and Wales that is HMCTS for £24, and in Scotland the Register of Deeds for £20. A solicitor or a secure home safe also works, as long as your executors know where to look.

Is a digital copy of my will legally valid?

No. Only the original signed will is valid. A digital copy is useful so that executors can see your wishes and know what to look for, but they will still need the original.

How do I find a will after someone has died?

Start with the National Will Register, then contact any solicitor or bank that may have held it. In England and Wales you can also ask whether it was deposited with HMCTS. If the person had a record of their estate online, it may also say where the will is.

Can I write my own will?

Yes. Many people with simple affairs do. What matters most is that it is signed and witnessed correctly, and that the original is then kept safe. If you own a business, have a complicated family situation or a large estate, speak to a solicitor first.

Sources

WFAbout this guideWritten by the WillFull team. It’s general information for England and Wales, not legal or financial advice. Rules can change; check GOV.UK, or speak to a regulated adviser about your situation. Find one in our directory.