WHEN SHOULD I UPDATE MY WILL?

Life's situations can and often do change, sometimes with remarkable speed - personal and family circumstances, wealth fluctuates, families grow, people die, even legislation changes. Taking into account all these possibilities and more, the Testator should always be advised to review his Will at regular intervals to see if there have been any variations that need to be addressed.

These include:

Birth of children - Do they need adding to the Will as beneficiaries and should provision be made in the Will for Testamentary Guardians?

Marriage - Marriage or entering into a civil partnership will revoke an existing Will just as if it had never existed, unless it was written in contemplation of marriage or of entering into a civil partnership. Should the Testator therefore die after marrying or remarrying or entering into a civil partnership without having made a new Will, he/she would die intestate.

Separation - Separation of spouses or partners may lead to a desire to change a Will to exclude any benefit passing to the estranged spouse.

Divorce - Divorce cancels those parts of the Will which relate to the divorced spouse.

Retirement - Often retirement is a point in their lives at which people take a different view of their property and families. Certain policies or in service death benefits may no longer apply upon retirement.

An Inheritance - This may significantly alter the value of a testator's estate and how he/she might want to dispose of it.

Changes in the Law - This may relate to succession or taxation. Government policy and statutory adjustments may affect the importance of making a Will or prompt the need to change the existing one.

Legacies - Legacies may become distorted by inflation.

Death - An existing Will may refer to someone who has died

The above are only a few of the ways in which a Will may require updating, it is recommended that when having a Will written, the Will is placed into secure storage with Full Aftercare thus allowing the testator to update their Will as and when required (See Aftercare and Secure Document Storage)