Under the Act, custodians may submit original wills to the SCA. Before doing so, they must diligently attempt to contact the will’s creator. If the custodian cannot make contact, they must send a certified letter giving the creator 90 days to reclaim their will. If the custodian does not receive a response within this period, custodians may proceed to submit an electronic copy to the SCA.
After completing these steps, the custodian may begin the process of placing an original will in the SCA depository. The custodian must download and fill out an online filing statement from the SCA’s website. In addition to the online filing statement, the custodian must submit a scanned copy of the will. There is a fee of $39.50 per document submitted.
After the custodian has submitted the documents, they will receive a confirmation email confirming that they have successfully submitted the documents. The submission is then pending acceptance. If their submission is accepted, the custodian will receive a payment link to pay the fee. The link is live for only 30 minutes. After payment confirmation, custodians receive a final acknowledgment from the SCA; once they receive this final acknowledgment, the custodian is free to destroy the original will.
For those curious about the contents of these stored wills, the SCA’s website offers a search feature. Users can look up documents using the creator’s name or last known address. Access to view or print documents is limited to fiduciaries and devisees, who can obtain certified copies by submitting a specific request form to the SCA.
If a person wishes to remove their will from the depository, they can initiate the process by filing a request for deletion directly on the SCA’s website. This provision ensures that individuals retain control over their estate planning documents, even after submission to the SCA.
