- (i) The District Registrar of every district will be supplied with a fire-proof safe. In this safe shall be kept Wills in sealed covers, and authorities to adopt which may have been deposited under any previous law. Wills in sealed covers which have been deposited or may be presented for deposit under section 43, and Wills which have been or may be opened under section 45 of the Act. It shall not be used for any other purpose whatever. The key of the safe shall remain in the personal custody of the District Registrar who alone shall open and close it. The duplicate key shall be deposited in some secure place. The safe should be placed where it cannot be effected by damp and it shall be opened and examined at least once a month, with a view to ascertaining that its contents, if any, are correct and in good condition, and that the lock is in order.(ii)If any Will through age or damp has been subjected to such decomposition that it appears likely to become useless, the depositor or his legal representative, if the depositor is dead, should be called upon to replace it and informed that, unless he does so, it will be destroyed when no longer legible. Such destruction should be carried out in the presence of the District Registrar who should record a note thereof in his own hand writing in the register.(iii)When several Wills are kept together arranged one above the other, the seals are apt to wear out and the inscription thereon to become effaced owing to constant contact. It has also been observed that in some cases, the inscription on the seals fade with the advance of years. In order, therefore, to prevent damage, such covers should, before they are deposited in the safe, be placed in outer transparent covers with eyeletted flaps and a string should be passed through the eyelets and tied and sealed with the Registrar's private seal. The outer cover should not be opened unless there is a permanent change in the personal of the Registrar or unless an occasion arises for the opening of the inner-sealed cover for its removal to court.
