Review your will at least every 5 years

Graysons’ wills and probate experts recommend that everyone should review their will at least every 5 years, but that isn’t a rigid timeline as everyone’s circumstances are different.  We all experience different life events and some of these are very likely to mean that you should look at your will and make sure that it still represents your wishes.  Some such events would include:

Marriage, remarriage and civil partnerships

When you marry, re-marry or enter into a civil partnership, any existing will you have will be revoked automatically and you would effectively be intestate (have no existing will).  Should you die before making a new will, your estate will be distributed according to a statutory set of rules that may not take into account your own wishes.

You should make a new will as soon as possible after your marriage/civil partnership or you can make a will in anticipation of the union, specifically naming your new wife, husband or civil partner.

Divorce or dissolution of civil partnership

If you get divorced or dissolve a civil partnership in England and Wales, your ex-spouse or partner will not then be a beneficiary, even if they are named in your will – which will not be dissolved.  Also, they will not be able to act as your executor if named as such.

If you want your ex to inherit from your estate – or to be  your executor – you need to make a new will stating your wishes.

Note that if you cut your ex out of your will and they rely on you for financial support when you die, they may be able to make a claim against your will under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependents) Act 1975.

Separation

If you separate from your spouse or civil partner, but are not divorced when you die, they will inherit your estate as if you were still married.  This will be the same if you die without a will, when intestacy rules will apply.

You should change your will if you don’t want a person from whom you are separated to benefit from your assets.

Widowed

If you are widowed you may want to amend your will if you wish to leave a legacy to any family of your deceased spouse.

Children

If you have or adopt children, you may wish to change your will to reflect your wishes to include certain inheritances for them.  You may also want to appoint guardians – giving them parental responsibility for your children if you die and no one else with that authority remains.  You may also want to set up trusts and trustees so that any money you leave for your children is kept and managed properly.

Money!

You may wish to change your will if you inherit a legacy, if you come into a lot of money, or indeed if you lose a lot of money or have financial difficulties.

You should also take advice on inheritance tax in these circumstances and ensure that your will is written in a way that makes the best use of your allowances.

If you inherit a legacy, you may wish to redirect it by way of deed of variation, which will require specific advice as time limits apply.

Someone named in your will dies

If someone named in your will dies but you would like their children or relatives to benefit from your original bequest, you will need to amend your will.

You need to change an executor

If an executor dies, or you don’t want someone who is already named to be an executor, and you want to name someone else, you will need to amend your will.

How to change your will

You cannot change a will simply by amending it yourself.  Overwriting your will yourself will render it invalid.

You must change your will by adding a codicil or by writing a new will.  There are no real rules as to which one you should do, but Graysons would recommend that you write a new will if the changes to it are more that small ones, such as adding a beneficiary or changing an executor.  Codicils, which are signed and witnessed in the same was as a will, are an addition to the original will – meaning there is more chance for them to get lost, and they can make it more complex to administer a will when the time comes if they contain lots of changes.

A solicitor will advise on writing a new will and how to ensure that the old will is revoked by destroying it properly.  Contact our experts now if you think that you may need to amend your will and we will advise the best way forward for you.

You can find out more about making a will on our web pages.

by David Coffey, partner and head of Graysons’ wills and probate department.