§ 64.1-56. Wills of living persons lodged for safekeeping with clerks of certain courts
Any person or his attorney for him may, during his lifetime, lodge for safekeeping with the clerk of a court having probate jurisdiction in the county or city of his residence any will executed by such person; and the clerk shall thereupon receive such will and give the person lodging it a receipt therefor. The clerk shall then place the will in an envelope and seal it securely, numbering the envelope and endorsing thereon the name of the testator and the date on which it is so lodged, and shall index the same alphabetically in a permanent index kept for the purpose, showing therein the number and date such will is so deposited. The fee for such lodging, indexing and preserving shall be two dollars, which shall be paid to the clerk when the will is received.
Any attorney-at-law, bank or trust company may, upon holding a will lodged with him or it for safekeeping by a client for seven years or more, and having no knowledge of whether the said client is alive or dead after such time, lodge such will with the clerk as provided in the preceding paragraph for which the clerk shall be paid two dollars for such lodging, indexing and preserving.
The clerk shall carefully preserve the envelope containing the will unopened until it is returned to the testator or his nominee in his lifetime upon his request in writing therefor or until the death of the testator. Should such will be returned in the testator's lifetime as hereinbefore provided and later returned to the clerk it shall be considered as a separate lodging under the provisions of this section.
Upon notice of the testator's death, the clerk shall open the will and deliver the same to any person entitled to offer it for probate.
Provided, the provisions of this section shall be applicable only to the clerk's office of a court wherein theretofore has been entered, by the judge or judges of such court, an order authorizing the use of its clerk's office for such purpose.
(Code 1950, § 64-57.1; 1958, c. 392; 1964, c. 390; 1968, c. 656; 1970, c. 567.)
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