(a) A will may be deposited for safekeeping in the Probate Division of the Superior Court for the district in which the testator resides on payment to the court of the applicable fee required by 32 V.S.A. § 1434(a)(17). The register shall give to the testator a receipt, shall safely keep each will so deposited, and shall keep an index of the wills so deposited.

(b) Each will so deposited shall be enclosed in a sealed envelope on which is written the name and address of the testator and the names and addresses of the executors named in the will. The will shall not be opened until it is delivered to a person entitled to receive it or until otherwise disposed of by the court.

(c) During the life of the testator, that will shall be delivered only to the testator or in accordance with the testator's order in writing duly acknowledged or otherwise proved to the satisfaction of the court, but the testator's duly authorized legal guardian or attorney-in-fact may at any time inspect and copy the will in the presence of the judge or register.

(d) [Repealed.]

(e) Except as provided in this section, wills deposited for safekeeping or any index of wills so deposited are not open to public inspection during the life of the testator. (Amended 1961, No. 122, eff. May 16, 1961; 1971, No. 105, § 1; 1985, No. 144 (Adj. Sess.), § 11; 2009, No. 154 (Adj. Sess.), § 238a, eff. Feb. 1, 2011; 2011, No. 33, § 11b; 2017, No. 28, § 2, eff. May 10, 2017; 2017, No. 195 (Adj. Sess.), § 1.)