Court Safekeeping of Original Wills in Delaware
At a glance
| Statutory safekeeping route | Voluntary original-will deposit with a county Register of Wills (§ 2513(a)). |
|---|---|
| Who may deposit | Testator, attorney-in-fact, or attorney; certain long-term professional custodians (§ 2513(a), (f)). |
| Proper court or clerk | Register of Wills for New Castle, Kent, or Sussex County (§ 2513(a)). |
| Envelope and filing record | Register seals envelope before depositor, numbers and names it, dates lodging, lists proposed representative, indexes (§ 2513(b)). |
| Fee and receipt | Statutory $5 deposit fee, adjustable by county council; Register gives receipt (§ 2513(a), (b), (h)). |
| Custody before death | Register preserves envelope unopened; testator may inspect at office and return it for $1 (§ 2513(c)). |
| Retrieval before death | Return during life to testator, attorney-in-fact, or attorney; redeposit counts as new lodging (§ 2513(c)). |
| Notice after death | Notice of death or court order triggers Register's opening (§ 2513(d)). |
| Opening and release after death | Open into pending probate file; limited review and copies, with transfer on nonresident affidavit (§ 2513(d)–(e)). |
Requirements one by one
Who may deposit
Under 12 Del. C. § 2513(f), an attorney, bank, or trust company holding a client's will for seven years or more without knowing whether the client is alive may lodge it with the Register. This is separate from the testator, attorney-in-fact, or attorney route in § 2513(a).
Envelope and filing record
Section 2513(b) requires sealing in the depositor's presence, numbering and naming the envelope, recording the lodging date, listing the desired personal representative, and indexing the will alphabetically. The Register gives the depositor a receipt.
Lifetime retrieval
Under § 2513(c), the Register keeps the envelope unopened unless it is returned during life to the testator, attorney-in-fact, or attorney. The testator may inspect the will at the office and return it for $1. Removal and redeposit is a new lodging.
Opening and release after death
Section 2513(d) directs the Register to open the will after death notice or court order and place it in a pending file awaiting probate. Review and copies are limited to the listed people. Under § 2513(e), death notice plus a proposed representative's affidavit that the decedent lived elsewhere directs transfer to the probate officer or Register in the alleged county or state of residence.
What trips people up
The $5 amount in § 2513(a) and (f) is subject to county-council adjustment under § 2513(h); confirm the receiving county's current charge. Section 2513(g) says lodging creates no presumption that the document or signatures are authentic or that the will is admissible to probate.
Common questions
Must the depositor use the testator's home county? Section 2513(a) names the Registers for all three Delaware counties, and § 2513(e) provides a postdeath transfer if the decedent lived elsewhere.
Can a beneficiary read the will before probate? After the Register opens it under § 2513(d), a beneficiary named in the will may review it while it awaits probate.
Statutes and sources
- 12 Del. C. § 2513: current official text, quoted with source URL and access date above.
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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