Changing a Will

It is important to remember that your Will is not ‘cast in stone’ and will probably need to be updated over the years. As you grow older your circumstances will change as you buy and sell investments and assets such as property, shares or valuable goods. People will come and go from your life through birth and death, and relationships with other friends and relatives will change over time. It is therefore important to re-visit your Will periodically (at least every 5 years) to make sure that it still accurately reflects your wishes.

There are many reasons to change your Will, below are some important ones:

• If you are entering marriage or a civil partnership

• Your existing Will becomes invalid when you get married or enter a civil partnership (England, Wales & Northern Ireland)

• If you are separating or getting divorced

• Upon divorce your former spouse is treated as though they have pre-deceased you. For example: your Will states you leave everything to your husband/wife and upon their death the remaining assets go to your children. As you are now divorced, when you die your estate will automatically go straight to the children and your ex-husband/wife is disregarded

• You are having a child or subsequent children

• If you do not list your children in your Will, they – or others on their behalf – may have to go to Court to ensure they inherit your estate

• Equally, if you have left everything in your Will to your first child, you will need to update it should you have further children to ensure your estate is shared amongst them

• If you are buying, selling property or inheriting other assets

• If you come into large amounts of money or other assets

There are two legally valid ways to change your Will. You can either add a codicil (for small changes) or make a new Will and revoke the old one.

A codicil is a supplementary document to your original Will that usually deals with simple changes eg. changing an executor or reallocating a bequest. It must be written, signed, witnessed, dated and then stored with the original Will.

For any other type of change it is better to draw a new Will to ensure there is no confusion or misunderstanding of your wishes.