Key Takeaways |
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• Signing a valid Will is only half the job. The Master of the High Court needs the original document, not a copy, before your estate can be administered as you intended. |
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• If the original can’t be located, your family may have to apply to court just to have a copy recognised, which takes time your estate doesn’t have to spare. |
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• Business owners with company shareholdings have even more riding on a will that can actually be found and acted on quickly. |
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• Pairing safekeeping with your nominated Executor removes the guesswork entirely, since the same firm holds the document and knows exactly what to do with it. |
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• Telling your heirs where your Will is held, and who’s been appointed to act, is a five-minute conversation that saves months of uncertainty later. |
The Part of Estate Planning Most People Overlook
Signing a Will feels like crossing the finish line. You’ve thought through your wishes, worked out who gets what, and put your signature where it needs to be. Understandably, most people file it away and move on.
But the Master of the High Court can only act on the original signed document, and if that document can’t be produced when it’s needed, your carefully considered wishes may never take effect the way you intended. A Will that exists but can’t be found does your family almost no good at all.
This is where OAK Law’s safekeeping and Executor service closes the gap between signing your Will and it actually working when your family needs it to.
Why the Original Matters So Much
Under the Wills Act 7 of 1953, a valid Will must be in writing, signed by the testator, and witnessed by two competent people. The Master’s office works from this original document to grant Letters of Executorship and allow the estate to be administered.
If only a copy can be found, the process doesn’t simply continue as normal. Section 2(3) of the Wills Act allows a court to accept a document as a person’s Will even where it doesn’t meet every formality, but this requires a formal court application, supporting evidence, and time your family may not have while accounts are frozen and decisions are on hold. In the interim, the Master’s office typically proceeds as though no valid Will exists at all, which means your estate could be administered under the Intestate Succession Act rather than according to your actual wishes.
Where This Goes Wrong
It’s rarely dramatic. A Will kept in a home safe that nobody else has the code for. A document left with a friend who’s since moved overseas. A digital copy saved somewhere, with the signed original never quite located afterwards. In each case, the testator did everything right by signing a valid Will, and the outcome still went sideways because nobody could produce the paper when it mattered.
Why This Matters Even More for Business Owners
If you hold shares in a company, the stakes go up. Buy-sell agreements, shareholder succession clauses and business continuity plans are often built around the assumption that your Executor can step in and act without delay. A Will that’s tied up in a court application to prove a lost original can stall exactly the decisions your business needs made quickly, from signing authority to shareholder resolutions. For business owners, a Will that’s easy to locate and immediately actionable isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s part of protecting the business itself.
The Fix: Keep Custody and Execution Under One Roof
The most reliable way to remove this risk is to have the same firm safeguard your original Will and act as your nominated Executor. OAK Law offers exactly this combination. Your signed original is held securely, with an electronic backup kept on file, and because OAK Law’s Executor, Deceased Estates and Last Will and Testament department already knows the document and your instructions, there’s no delay locating the Will, confirming its validity, or working out who’s been nominated to act.
This matters in practice more than it might seem to on paper. When custody and execution sit with two separate parties, or with no one at all, every step depends on someone first being found, then verified, then briefed. When they sit with the same firm, that entire chain collapses into a single phone call.
Telling Your Heirs Where to Look
Safekeeping only solves half the problem if your family doesn’t know it exists. Take a few minutes to let your heirs and your nominated Executor know that your Will is held with OAK Law, so there’s no uncertainty about where to start when the time comes. This single conversation is often the difference between an estate that moves smoothly and one that stalls in its very first week.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can my family use a copy of my Will if the original is lost? Only with a successful court application under the Wills Act, and the Master’s office will generally proceed as if no valid Will exists until that order is granted.
Is it expensive to have OAK Law store my Will? Safekeeping is offered for a small annual fee and includes an electronic backup, so your Executor always has a reliable point of reference.
What if I update my Will after it’s been stored? Simply bring in the updated, signed original, and OAK Law will replace the stored version and backup so the most current Will is always the one on file.
Do I need to tell my heirs anything else besides where the Will is kept? Letting them know who’s been nominated as Executor is equally useful, so they know exactly who to contact first.
Make the Next Step the Easy One
You’ve already done the hard part by putting a valid Will in place. Safeguarding the original and making sure your Executor can act on it without delay is a small step that protects everything you’ve already decided.
Contact OAK Law to arrange safekeeping for your original Will and confirm OAK Law as your nominated Executor.
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