Making a Will is one of the most important steps you can take to protect your loved ones and ensure your assets end up where you want them to after you’re gone. It brings peace of mind, knowing you’ve got things properly sorted. But a Will isn’t something you should just sign, file away, and forget about. Life, as we all know, has a habit of changing.
A question we often hear at Gorvins is, “How often should I actually review my Will?” While a general rule of thumb is to cast an eye over it every 3 to 5 years, the real answer is: you need to review it whenever your circumstances change significantly. Certain life events can have a massive impact on whether your current Will still reflects your wishes or, in some cases, whether it’s even legally valid anymore.
Think of your Will as a snapshot of your intentions at a specific time. As your life evolves – your family grows, your finances change, relationships shift – that snapshot can quickly become outdated. Keeping it current is vital.
Why Review Your Will Regularly? (Even if Nothing Big Changes)
Even if you haven’t experienced one of the major life events we’ll discuss below, that 3-to-5-year review is still sound advice. Why?
- Changing Asset Values: The value of your property, savings, investments, or business can fluctuate significantly over a few years. Does your Will still distribute your estate fairly based on current values?
- Inheritance Tax Rules: Tax laws, especially around Inheritance Tax thresholds and exemptions, can change. A review ensures your Will is still as tax-efficient as possible.
- Minor Relationship Shifts: Perhaps your relationship with a named beneficiary or executor has changed, even if it hasn’t led to a major event like divorce. Are they still the right people to include or appoint?
- Executor/Guardian Suitability: Are the people you appointed as executors (to manage your estate) or guardians (to care for minor children) still willing and able to act? Have they moved away, become unwell, or are their circumstances now different?
Regular reviews ensure your Will remains relevant and workable, reflecting your current situation and wishes accurately.
Major Life Events That Demand a Will Update
While regular reviews are good practice, certain key life events should trigger an immediate review and likely update of your Will. Ignoring these can lead to serious unintended consequences.
Getting Married or Entering a Civil Partnership
This is a big one. Saying “I do” has a significant legal impact on any Will you made previously.
- Automatic Revocation: In England and Wales, getting married or forming a civil partnership automatically revokes (cancels) any existing Will you have, unless that Will was specifically made ‘in contemplation’ of that particular marriage or partnership (which needs careful wording).
- Why? The law assumes your priorities and who you want to benefit will change significantly upon marriage/partnership.
- The Risk: If you die after marrying but before making a new Will, you’ll be treated as having died ‘intestate’ (without a valid Will). The strict Rules of Intestacy will then dictate who inherits your estate. Your new spouse will inherit a significant portion (potentially all, depending on the estate value and whether you have children), but it might not be distributed exactly as you would have wished, especially if you have children from a previous relationship.
- Action Needed: Make a new Will as soon as possible after getting married or forming a civil partnership.
Getting Divorced, Dissolving a Civil Partnership, or Separating
Ending a marriage or civil partnership also significantly impacts your Will, but in a different way to getting married.
- It Doesn’t Revoke the Whole Will: Unlike marriage, divorce or dissolution doesn’t automatically cancel your entire Will.
- Effect on Ex-Spouse: Once the decree absolute or final order is issued, your Will is read as if your former spouse or civil partner had died before you. This means they generally cannot act as an executor or trustee, nor can they inherit anything under the Will. Any gifts left to them will usually fail.
- The Danger Zone: Separation: Critically, during the period of separation before the divorce or dissolution is finalised, your existing Will remains fully valid. Your soon-to-be-ex could still potentially inherit from you if you were to pass away during this time!
- Action Needed: It’s vital to review and likely update your Will as soon as you separate, perhaps making an interim Will. You should then review it again once the divorce or dissolution is finalised to ensure it accurately reflects your new circumstances and wishes.
Having Children or Grandchildren
Welcoming new arrivals is joyous, but it brings new responsibilities that your Will needs to address.
- Appointing Legal Guardians: This is arguably the most crucial reason for parents of children under 18 to have an up-to-date Will. It allows you to nominate who you want to raise your children if both parents were no longer around. Without this, the courts would decide, which might not align with your wishes.
- Financial Provision: You’ll want to ensure your children are financially provided for. This often involves setting up trusts within your Will to hold their inheritance until they reach a certain age (e.g., 18, 21, or 25), managed by trustees you appoint.
- Including Everyone: If you already have a Will and have more children (or grandchildren you wish to benefit), you need to update it to include them, either by name or as part of a defined class (e.g., “all my children”). Make sure step-children are explicitly included if that’s your intention.
- Disabled Dependants: If you have a child or dependant with a disability, specialist advice is essential. Provisions like Discretionary Trusts or Vulnerable Person Trusts can help protect their inheritance and ensure they don’t lose means-tested benefits.
Significant Changes in Your Finances
Life brings financial ups and downs. Your Will should reflect your current reality.
- Windfalls: Receiving a large inheritance, selling a business for a good profit, or even a significant lottery win will likely change how you want to distribute your assets and may have Inheritance Tax implications.
- Reduced Assets: Conversely, if your estate has reduced in value, specific cash gifts mentioned in your Will might no longer be feasible or could disproportionately reduce what’s left for other main beneficiaries.
- Tax Planning: Changes in asset value can affect potential Inheritance Tax liability. A review allows for updated planning to minimise tax where possible.
Changes Regarding People Named in Your Will
People’s circumstances change, which can affect your Will.
- Executors: Is the person you appointed to manage your estate still the best choice? Have they died, become unwell, moved abroad, or do you simply no longer trust them? It’s wise to appoint substitute executors in your Will just in case.
- Beneficiaries: What if someone you left a gift to dies before you? Your Will should state what happens to their share – does it go to their children, or is it redistributed among other beneficiaries? Clarity prevents disputes.
Buying or Selling Property / Business Interests
Changes in major assets need consideration.
- Specific Property Gifts: If your Will leaves a specific house (e.g., “I leave 1 Acacia Avenue to my son”) but you sell that house before you die, the gift fails (‘adeems’). Your son gets nothing in its place unless the Will is updated.
- Property Co-ownership: How you own property with others (Joint Tenants vs. Tenants in Common) affects whether it passes under your Will or automatically to the co-owner. This might need checking.
- Business Owners: Your Will needs to work alongside any partnership or shareholder agreements regarding what happens to your business interests on death.
How Do You Update Your Will? Codicils vs. New Wills
So, you know you need to make a change. How do you do it properly?
Codicils: For Minor Tweaks
A Codicil is a separate legal document that makes specific amendments to your existing Will. It must be signed and witnessed with the same formalities as a Will to be valid.
- Best Use: Suitable for very simple, minor changes, like changing an executor or adjusting a small cash gift amount.
- Potential Problems: Codicils can get detached from the original Will and lost. Having multiple Codicils can become confusing and increase the risk of errors or contradictions.
New Will: Often the Better Option
For anything more than a minor change, making a completely new Will is usually the recommended approach.
- Clarity: A new Will automatically revokes (cancels) all previous Wills and Codicils, ensuring there’s one single, clear document reflecting your final wishes.
- Reduces Risk: Avoids the confusion and potential contradictions of multiple documents.
- Essential Step: When you make a new Will, you must destroy the old one (and any copies) to avoid confusion after your death. Shredding or burning is recommended.
The Dangers of Not Updating (or Trying DIY Changes)
Failing to keep your Will current, or trying to make changes yourself without legal guidance, is fraught with risk:
- Dying Intestate: If your Will is invalid (e.g., revoked by marriage) or doesn’t reflect your current family structure, inflexible intestacy laws take over.
- Invalid Changes: Simply crossing things out or writing notes on your existing Will won’t work and could even invalidate the whole document. Incorrectly witnessed Codicils are also invalid.
- Ambiguity and Family Disputes: Poorly worded clauses or unclear intentions can lead to costly legal battles between your loved ones.
- Unintended Consequences: Assets going to the wrong people (like a separated spouse), unnecessary tax bills, or guardians not being legally appointed.
Getting professional advice ensures your updates are legally sound and achieve what you intend.
Planning Ahead: Don’t Forget Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs)
While a Will deals with what happens after you die, it’s equally important to plan for potential incapacity during your lifetime. Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs) allow you to appoint trusted people (‘attorneys’) to make decisions about your finances or health and welfare if you lose the mental capacity to make them yourself. Having both a valid Will and LPAs in place provides comprehensive future-proofing.
Get Peace of Mind: Sort Your Will with Gorvins
Keeping your Will up-to-date is one of the most valuable things you can do for your family. Don’t leave it lingering on the ‘to-do’ list.
The friendly and experienced Wills, Trusts & Probate team at Gorvins Solicitors is here to provide sound advice and help you get things sorted. We can review your existing Will, discuss any changes in your circumstances, advise on the best way forward (whether a Codicil or new Will), and ensure your documents are properly drafted and legally robust. From straightforward Wills to complex estate planning involving trusts and Inheritance Tax advice, we offer a tailored service to give you complete peace of mind.
Don’t leave your legacy to chance. Contact Gorvins’ Wills, Trusts & Probate team today for expert guidance.