Section 2-515
A will may be deposited by the testator or the testator's agent with any court for safekeeping, under rules of the court. The will shall be sealed and kept confidential. During the testator's lifetime, a deposited will shall be delivered only to the testator or to a person authorized in writing signed by the testator to receive the will. A guardian of the estate or conservator may be allowed to examine a deposited will of a protected testator under procedures designed to maintain the confidential character of the document to the extent possible, and to ensure that it will be resealed and kept on deposit after the examination. Upon being informed of the testator's death, the court shall notify any person designated to receive the will and deliver it to that person on request; or the court may deliver the will to the appropriate court.
Comment
Many states already have statutes permitting deposit of wills during a testator's lifetime. Most of these statutes have elaborate provisions governing purely administrative matters: how the will is to be enclosed in a sealed wrapper, what is to be endorsed on the wrapper, the form of receipt or certificate given to the testator, the fee to be charged, how the will is to be opened after testator's death and who is to be notified. Under this section, details have been left to Court rule, except as other relevant statutes such as one governing fees may apply.
It is, of course, vital to maintain the confidential nature of deposited wills. However, this obviously does not prevent the opening of the will after the death of the testator if necessary in order to determine the executor or other interested persons to be notified. Nor should it prevent opening the will to microfilm for confidential record storage, for example. These matters could again be regulated by Court rule.
The provision permitting examination of a will of a protected person by the conservator supplements Section 5-427.
Massachusetts comment
The subject matter of this section is now covered in G.L. c. 191, §§ 10-12, which contain many of the detailed provisions to which the first paragraph of the Comment refers. The Committee approves of the UPC rewording, and notes that if this section is enacted, the Probate Courts may wish to consider rules for deposit of wills, access to them and opening of them. Allowing a conservator to examine a deposited will is a welcome improvement and one which seems consistent with the most recent amendment of G.L. c. 201, § 38, which provides (among other things) that a conservator "shall have custody of all wills, codicils, and other instruments purporting to be testamentary dispositions executed by his ward".