A common question for our attorneys, and a smart one to ask – you yourself may have wondered – what is the best way to store important legal documents?
If you’ve gone through the process of creating an estate plan, finalizing a business transaction, or establishing an LLC, you know how much paperwork you can wind up with. Now it’s time to safely store and secure them. So, what do you do?
The short answer is that there’s no single right answer for everyone. But there are some practical guidelines we’ve developed over decades of working with clients across Hampton Roads, tailored to the requirements of different documents.
What We Do on Our End
The first step to securing your important legal documents happens right here at the office. Remember, we’re here for your peace of mind, including securely handling any legal paperwork we provide. For estate planning documents, we scan every original into our system, which is backed up in multiple locations. We also provide each client with a binder containing their original documents along with a USB drive loaded with digital copies of everything.
For business transactions such as buying or selling a business, drafting contracts, or similar work, you will always receive the original documents, and we keep scanned copies indefinitely. The one notable exception: when we establish an LLC or corporation, we maintain the original documents in a corporate binder and provide you with complete copies.
As you can see, if something were ever to happen to your copies of these documents, we have you covered.
When Originals Matter
For most legal purposes in today’s world, a digital copy or a clear photocopy will do the job. But there are some exceptions for estate planning. Wills, powers of attorney, and similar documents typically need to be originals, and Virginia law does not currently allow them to be signed electronically. That means the physical documents in your binder are genuinely irreplaceable in a way that, say, a business contract is not.
If they are ever stolen, lost or destroyed, there are legal hoops we can jump through to recreate them, so while they are technically replaceable, it’s best to treat them as if they are not. It’s not simple, and it’s not free, but it is doable. The best course of action is always to contact our office as soon as you realize something is missing. The sooner we know, the sooner we can help you figure out the best path forward.
Where to Store Your Documents at Home
Often clients want to know if a file cabinet at home is secure enough for their legal documents, or whether they should invest in a fireproof box or even a safety deposit box at a bank.
Our general recommendation is to keep estate planning documents in a secure, accessible place in your home. A fireproof lockbox or fireproof home safe is a solid option and gives you peace of mind without adding logistical complications. The reason we lean toward home storage rather than bank safety deposit boxes is because most banks are closed on weekends. If something happens when your bank is closed, such as a medical emergency where you may need your medical power of attorney to be produced immediately, your loved ones would not be able to access these documents until banking hours on Monday. For documents that may be needed urgently and unexpectedly, that’s a real situation to consider.
Additionally, the risk of fire or theft specifically targeting your legal documents is genuinely very low. A well organized home file system, especially with a fireproof component, is likely more than adequate for the majority of clients.
If you do choose a safety deposit box for added peace of mind or for additional copies of documents, that’s perfectly fine. Just make sure a trusted member of your family or the person holding your power of attorney knows it exists, where it is, and can access it if needed.
Where Digital Copies Come In
Something that surprises many clients is that for most day-to-day situations, a digital or paper copy of a legal document is all you’ll need. Sharing your estate plan with a financial advisor, providing a copy of a business contract to a new partner, giving your bank proof of an LLC – in the vast majority of these cases, a copy works just fine.
This is part of why we provide the USB drive option. Make sure to store it somewhere secure but accessible or upload the files to a secure cloud service like Google Drive or a password-protected storage account so you or your family can pull them up quickly without hunting through a filing cabinet.
Document To-Do List:
Keep your original estate planning documents in a fireproof box or safe at home in a location your trusted family member or agent knows about.
Store your USB drive (provided by our office) somewhere accessible or upload the digital copies to a secure cloud folder.
Let your executor, healthcare agent, or power of attorney know where your documents are BEFORE they need them.
If anything is ever lost or destroyed, call us as soon as possible.
Peace of mind is the whole point of the work we do together. A few minutes spent organizing and communicating where your documents live can make an enormous difference for the people you love when it matters most.
Where and How Should You Store Your Important Legal Documents?
A common question for our attorneys, and a smart one to ask – you yourself may have wondered – what is the best way to store important legal documents?
If you’ve gone through the process of creating an estate plan, finalizing a business transaction, or establishing an LLC, you know how much paperwork you can wind up with. Now it’s time to safely store and secure them. So, what do you do?
The short answer is that there’s no single right answer for everyone. But there are some practical guidelines we’ve developed over decades of working with clients across Hampton Roads, tailored to the requirements of different documents.
What We Do on Our End
The first step to securing your important legal documents happens right here at the office. Remember, we’re here for your peace of mind, including securely handling any legal paperwork we provide. For estate planning documents, we scan every original into our system, which is backed up in multiple locations. We also provide each client with a binder containing their original documents along with a USB drive loaded with digital copies of everything.
For business transactions such as buying or selling a business, drafting contracts, or similar work, you will always receive the original documents, and we keep scanned copies indefinitely. The one notable exception: when we establish an LLC or corporation, we maintain the original documents in a corporate binder and provide you with complete copies.
As you can see, if something were ever to happen to your copies of these documents, we have you covered.
When Originals Matter
For most legal purposes in today’s world, a digital copy or a clear photocopy will do the job. But there are some exceptions for estate planning. Wills, powers of attorney, and similar documents typically need to be originals, and Virginia law does not currently allow them to be signed electronically. That means the physical documents in your binder are genuinely irreplaceable in a way that, say, a business contract is not.
If they are ever stolen, lost or destroyed, there are legal hoops we can jump through to recreate them, so while they are technically replaceable, it’s best to treat them as if they are not. It’s not simple, and it’s not free, but it is doable. The best course of action is always to contact our office as soon as you realize something is missing. The sooner we know, the sooner we can help you figure out the best path forward.
Where to Store Your Documents at Home
Often clients want to know if a file cabinet at home is secure enough for their legal documents, or whether they should invest in a fireproof box or even a safety deposit box at a bank.
Our general recommendation is to keep estate planning documents in a secure, accessible place in your home. A fireproof lockbox or fireproof home safe is a solid option and gives you peace of mind without adding logistical complications. The reason we lean toward home storage rather than bank safety deposit boxes is because most banks are closed on weekends. If something happens when your bank is closed, such as a medical emergency where you may need your medical power of attorney to be produced immediately, your loved ones would not be able to access these documents until banking hours on Monday. For documents that may be needed urgently and unexpectedly, that’s a real situation to consider.
Additionally, the risk of fire or theft specifically targeting your legal documents is genuinely very low. A well organized home file system, especially with a fireproof component, is likely more than adequate for the majority of clients.
If you do choose a safety deposit box for added peace of mind or for additional copies of documents, that’s perfectly fine. Just make sure a trusted member of your family or the person holding your power of attorney knows it exists, where it is, and can access it if needed.
Where Digital Copies Come In
Something that surprises many clients is that for most day-to-day situations, a digital or paper copy of a legal document is all you’ll need. Sharing your estate plan with a financial advisor, providing a copy of a business contract to a new partner, giving your bank proof of an LLC – in the vast majority of these cases, a copy works just fine.
This is part of why we provide the USB drive option. Make sure to store it somewhere secure but accessible or upload the files to a secure cloud service like Google Drive or a password-protected storage account so you or your family can pull them up quickly without hunting through a filing cabinet.
Document To-Do List:
Peace of mind is the whole point of the work we do together. A few minutes spent organizing and communicating where your documents live can make an enormous difference for the people you love when it matters most.
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