What You Should Know About Making Changes to Your Will
Posted on: 25 June 2020
Can you change your will after you have created and signed it? This is, without doubt, one of those questions that wills and estates lawyers get asked all too frequently.
The short answer is, yes, you can change your will. The long answer, as will be highlighted in this article, will look at how to go about making these changes, taking note of the dos and don'ts. Here are the crucial pointers you should know.
1. Handwritten Changes Will Invalidate Your Will
That you should never write on your will is something that wills and estates lawyers can never emphasise enough. Striking out an item with a pen, or making any handwritten revisions to the will invalidates the will. It may seem like a quick fix, but it will certainly not hold in legal terms.
2. Amend with a Codicil
If you are looking to make some amendments to your will, however minor they may seem to you, you need to follow the right procedure to avoid invalidation as already highlighted. The correct procedure for making revisions to a will involves preparing a codicil.
A codicil outlines any such desired amendments. As your wills and estates lawyers will direct you, you need to ensure that every codicil you prepare is signed and dated in the presence of witnesses, as you would with a will.
3. You May Need a New Will
Wills and estate lawyers may advise you to just write a new will if you use too many codicils. If you still need to make more changes to your will after that many codicils, then you may need to go back to the drawing board and make a new will. Why is the case? Too many codicils will only create confusion, and your intentions may be rightly questioned. It is also highly possible to have the stipulations of one contradicting those of another codicil.
4. You Can Make Changes Anytime
There is no restriction to when and even how often you can change your will. Wills and estates lawyers do recommend that you update your will when there is a significant change in your circumstances. Such include a new marriage, or end of a marriage, the birth or death of children and other beneficiaries, or when you add or dispose of a significant asset.
You are at liberty to change your will as you wish at any time. Wills and estates lawyers can help you get it right with these changes to avoid invalidating your will, or opening it up to contesting.
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