A lawyer told me his only copy of the will was destroyed on his hard drive, and thats the only copy he needed because he gave the original copy to the person whos will it was. Is he required to keep more than one copy himself? Thanks.
2006-10-26 17:32:08 · 3 answers · asked by lilmissess 2 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
In the state of California.
2006-10-26 17:39:47 · update #1
A lawyer is not required to keep a copy of someone's will according to the state of ohio.
2006-10-26 17:35:40 · answer #1 · answered by hearts_and_thoughts_2003 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nope..he is not...his only obligation is to witness the original will...some lawyers will keep copies or notarial copies of wills in a file, but as a general rule, most hesitate to do so...a copy of a will means nothing and can often lead to lengthy probate issues, as it is hard to prove the validity of a photostatic will, since the general rule is that if there is no original, it probably means that the testator meant to destroy the will....
and...knowing that the lawyer holds a copy can often lead people to be less careful of where they store the original, which only causes months or years of headache for a lawyer who probably was only paid a few hundred to execute the will....perhaps years ago...
also...lawyers where I am from are only required to keep files for 10 years.
a lawyer may keep one or more copies as a courtesy but he isn't even required to keep a single copy...if the testator wants their will honoured it is their duty to keep the original in a safe place where it can be easily found.
2006-10-26 17:43:30 · answer #2 · answered by elysialaw 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes he/she is required to keep a back up copy.
2006-10-26 17:36:41 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋