We thought we were organized.  We thought the file in my mother’s desk labeled “HLK will” actually contained her will.  We thought all we needed to do was to have the will reviewed by a local attorney, once my mother moved to a senior residence in Indiana from Pennsylvania. 

That was until we looked in the file and realized that “the will” was not there.  We looked in the adjacent files, we looked in the safe deposit box, we looked everywhere.  NO WILL.  To this day, my sister and I have no idea what happened to it.  We knew it was reviewed and updated by a Pennsylvania attorney a decade ago.  We always assumed it was in the file.

The problem was we assumed.  We assumed the will had been efficiently filed, labeled and housed in a place that made sense.  What we discovered was exactly the opposite – nothing made sense about its disappearance.  To this day, we don’t know where it is.  There is a chance my Mother “hid” it in a safe place and forgot to tell us.  For all we know it is taped to the bottom of the dining room hutch that we sold at auction.  Or perhaps it was inadvertently thrown away with the junk mail 

Thankfully, I remembered the name of the law firm in Philadelphia that my parents had used many, many years ago.  However, the paper chase did not end there.   The suburban branch office my parents used had closed.  So, I contacted the downtown office and learned that they had transferred my mother’s file to a different law firm at my mother’s request about five years ago.  Several phone calls and an hour later, I located the will with the help of a sympathetic paralegal.  Copies were quickly dispatched via e-mail to the Indiana attorney for review.

But what would have happened if I hadn’t known the name of my parents’ first law firm?    What would have happened if we couldn’t find the will?  The sad fact is that my Mother’s wishes would have been unfulfilled and a probate court would have made the decisions. 

My advice to everyone is to look now for important documents and review them to make sure they are up to date.  Then file them appropriately and make sure family members know where they can be found in case of an emergency.