criminal-law contract-law
Why must document remained sealed?
<p>Back story: I suddenly became unemployed and need work. A trusted friend connected me with someone who is willing to pay a large amount of money for me to transport a package. The package (allegedly) contains Last Will and Testament which must remained sealed. This is so when the recipients receive it, everyone can see it be opened for the first time and be sure of it.</p>

<p>Question: is this true? In law, how common is it for legal documents (such as a Last Will and Testament) to be sealed and become invalid if they are opened? How does this work? The destination is in the US. Also if they are forged documents could I be held liable to the crime?</p>

<p>In order for a will to be probated (acted on legally), a certified copy must be filed with the local probate court. Suppose the will is in a sealed envelope: you take it to the courthouse, and the clerk will have you open it, because they don't just take random sealed envelopes – the probate judge will read it. There is no official opening ceremony. It's an interesting question how the court would deal with a will that states e.g. "this will is valid only if it remains sealed in this envelope with such-and-such security seal", but if there were no competing wills, that clause would probably be ignored. The point is that in order to be acted on legally, the will has to be opened.</p>

<p>If the will is in a package containing, e.g. heroin, the aforementioned issue would arise in that the package must be opened in order to get at the will, with the added complication that if you open the package in the presence of the clerk, there's a fair chance that you will be arrested for possession of heroin. </p>
