If you’ve taken the critical step of drafting your will, congratulations! You’re ahead of the game and have taken a crucial step in securing your estate and loved ones. But here’s the thing: creating a will might not be a one-and-done task. Life often throws curveballs when you least expect them, and your estate plan should evolve to keep up.
Whether they are marriages, divorces, births, deaths, career changes or even relocations, all of them can impact your plans and wishes for the future even after you pass on. That’s why viewing your will as a living document could be crucial, mainly if it needs regular check-ups and occasional tweaks.
Sometimes, the changes are too significant, requiring you to draft a new will. Other times, you can add addendums using a separate document or codicil. This option can be appropriate in the following scenarios:
- A development within your family or household warrants you to make beneficiary changes.
- You need to appoint a new personal representative.
- There are changes in relationships impacting guardian appointments for minor children.
- You have made updated decisions concerning your funeral arrangements, which are in the will.
However, creating a new and updated version could be more effective for specific updates depending on the circumstances.
Keeping your will valid
After drafting your will, keeping it current could be an ongoing process. But sometimes, life can get busy, making you lose track of revisions and codicils over time. It might take a lot of effort to track which version is the most recent or where you’ve stored essential documents.
If you need to stay on top of them, consider seeking legal counsel to help you with your estate planning documents. An experienced professional can do more than track your estate plan changes. They can also help you determine if a codicil or a new will is appropriate.
