Managing an estate involves more paperwork than most people expect. Death certificates, the original will, bank statements, property deeds, utility bills, insurance policies, letters from solicitors. They arrive by post, by email, as attachments from the bank, as scanned PDFs from the GP surgery. Before long, it can feel like you're drowning in paper at exactly the moment when you have the least energy to deal with it.

EstateCopilot includes a document store so you can keep everything in one place, attached directly to the estate you're administering. This article explains how it works and why having a central, digital record matters more than it might first seem.

What the document store does

When you set up an estate in EstateCopilot, you can upload documents and attach them directly to that estate. The files sit securely alongside everything else you're working on: the asset list, the task queue, the IHT assessment, the probate forms.

You can upload any file type you receive: PDFs, scanned images, Word documents, photographs of paper originals. There is no set structure to follow. Upload what you have, when you have it, and name it in a way that makes sense to you.

You can link documents to assets, debts and beneficiaries; this helps keep documents close to the item they relate to. For example, linking a final bank statement to the bank account makes it easier to find later.

Why a central document store helps

You will need the same document more than once

This is the thing most people do not realise until they are in the middle of it. Banks, building societies, share registrars, HMRC, and the Probate Registry will each ask for proof of identity, proof of death, and proof of your authority as executor. Sometimes they ask more than once. Sometimes different branches of the same bank ask separately.

If you have uploaded your documents to EstateCopilot, you can find them again in seconds. No searching through email folders. No rifling through the pile on the kitchen table. No panic when a second letter arrives asking for the same thing a different organisation asked for last week.

You will not be doing this alone forever

Many estates involve more than one executor. A parent may have named two or three of their adult children. One person often takes the lead, but co-executors have legal responsibilities too, and they need access to the same paperwork.

When documents are stored digitally in EstateCopilot, co-executors you invite can see them too. No need to scan and forward. No version control headaches. Everyone is working from the same file.

The same applies if you need to hand over to a solicitor mid-way through. A complete, organised document record makes that transition significantly less painful.

It creates a record of what was done and when

Estate administration can take nine to twelve months. Over that time, it is easy to forget when you wrote to a particular institution, what they sent back, or which version of a form you ended up submitting.

Keeping documents attached to the estate in EstateCopilot gives you a quiet audit trail. If a beneficiary asks how a decision was reached, or if a question arises later about the IHT figures, you have the supporting paperwork to hand.

Some documents have a long tail

Not everything can be wrapped up cleanly. Property sales can take months. Shares need to be valued and transferred. An employer may take time to confirm whether a pension death benefit is payable. During that waiting period, documents keep arriving.

Storing them as they come in, rather than letting them pile up to be filed "later", means the estate record stays current. When you are ready to move forward, the paperwork is already there.

Documents worth storing as you go

You do not need to upload everything. But these are the documents most executors find themselves reaching for repeatedly:

Early on

The death certificate (you will likely have several certified copies; storing a scan can help)
The original will (scan it; keep the original paper copy safe for probate)
Any codicils to the will
The Tell Us Once reference number

As you contact institutions

Letters from each bank confirming the account has been noted
Valuations received for property, investments, and pensions
Correspondence with HMRC if IHT is relevant
Any letters from the Probate Registry or Sheriff Court

During and after the legal process

A copy of the grant of probate or Confirmation once received
Estate accounts showing what came in and what went out
Distribution records confirming what each beneficiary received

How to upload a document

Open the estate in EstateCopilot.
Navigate to the Documents section.
Select the file from your device or drag and drop it into the upload area.
Optionally, select an entity to link the document to (an asset, a debt, or a beneficiary)
The document is attached to the estate and visible to anyone you have given co-executor access.

That is it. There is nothing to configure and no folders to set up.

A note on keeping the original

Uploading a document to EstateCopilot does not replace the paper original where the original matters. The Probate Registry requires the original will, not a scan. Banks may ask to see certified copies of the death certificate in person.

Think of the document store as your working reference copy, the one you reach for when you need to check a figure, answer a question, or share something with a co-executor. Keep the paper originals somewhere secure at home, in an organised folder.

Getting started

If you have not yet set up your estate in EstateCopilot, you can create an account and begin at any stage of the process. You do not need to have everything ready before you start. Many people begin by uploading the documents they already have and build from there.

Create your free account and set up your estate

If you have already started and want to begin adding documents, the Documents section is available from within your estate dashboard.

This article is for general guidance only and does not constitute legal advice. If the estate is complex, contested, or involves assets in multiple countries, we recommend speaking with a solicitor.

Storing Estate Documents in EstateCopilot