Changing Your Will

Has it been five to seven years since you made your Will?

A Will isn’t meant to be written once and forgotten. Lives change — people marry, separate, have children, buy homes, lose relatives and rethink their plans — and a Will that made perfect sense a decade ago may no longer do what you’d want it to.

Updating your Will is usually quick and inexpensive. Our Private Client solicitors will review what you have, tell you honestly whether it still works, and make any changes you need with the minimum of fuss.

My Solicitor was always available for me, she is very patient, helpful & efficient. She explains things very clearly & gives excellent advice.

 Let’s get it sorted

That’s an easy question for us to answer. Send us your existing Will, or tell us what’s changed, and we’ll let you know whether it needs updating — and if so, what that would involve.

Call us on 020 3440 8000, email privateclient@tvedwards.com or contact us online for a fixed fee quotation.

When Should You Review Your Will?

We advise clients to review their Will every five to seven years, and always after a major life event.

The events that most often make a Will out of date are:

• marriage or civil partnership — which revokes an existing Will altogether;
• divorce, dissolution or separation;
• the birth or adoption of a child or grandchild;
• buying, selling or inheriting property;
• the death of a beneficiary, executor or guardian named in your Will;
• a significant change in your finances — a business sale, an inheritance, retirement;
• a change of heart about who should benefit, or a relationship that’s grown closer or more distant;
• moving abroad, or acquiring assets in another country.

If any of these apply and you haven’t looked at your Will since, it’s worth a conversation.

Why an Out-of-Date Will Causes Problems

An old Will doesn’t announce itself as a problem. It sits in a drawer looking perfectly valid, and the difficulties only emerge after your death, when nothing can be done about them.

The most common consequences we see:

• Gifts that fail. A beneficiary who died before you, or a specific item you no longer own, means that part of your Will simply doesn’t take effect.
• People left out. Children or grandchildren born after the Will was made may not be provided for.
• Executors who can’t act. Someone named years ago may have died, moved abroad or become unwilling.
• A former spouse still named. Divorce affects a Will in specific ways, and the result is often not what people assume.
• An estate that’s grown. A Will drafted when your assets were modest may make no provision for a much larger estate, or for the tax now due on it.
• Family disagreements. Ambiguity and outdated wording are among the most common triggers for a Will being challenged after death.

 How Do You Go About Changing Your Will?

There are two ways to change a Will, and choosing the right one matters.

Making a Codicil

A codicil is a separate document that amends your existing Will while leaving the rest of it intact. It must be signed and witnessed in exactly the same way as a Will — two witnesses present at the same time, neither of whom (nor their spouse or civil partner) benefits under it.

Codicils suit small, self-contained changes: replacing an executor, adjusting a single legacy, adding a modest gift.

Making a New Will

The alternative is a fresh Will that replaces the old one entirely. A new Will should state clearly that it revokes all previous Wills and codicils, so there’s no doubt about which document governs your estate.

Which Option Is Right for You?

Our general advice is that if you’re making a significant amendment, it’s better to make a new Will than to add a codicil.

The reason is simple. Every codicil has to be read alongside the original Will, and alongside every other codicil. Two or three amendments in, the picture becomes genuinely difficult to follow — and anything difficult to follow is easier to argue about. A single, clean document leaves far less room for dispute, and the cost difference is usually smaller than people expect.

We’ll advise on the right route once we know what you want to change. If a codicil genuinely does the job, we’ll tell you.

Why You Cannot Simply Write on Your Will

This is worth stating plainly, because it’s the most common and most costly mistake people make.

You cannot update or alter your Will by writing on it yourself. Crossing out a name, adding a line in the margin or attaching a note has no legal effect,  unless properly witnessed in accordance with S9 requirements. Any alteration is assumed to have been made after the Will was signed, and is therefore invalid.

Worse, amateur amendments can raise questions about the Will as a whole — who made the mark, when, and with what authority — which is exactly the kind of uncertainty that leads to a challenge. If you want to change something, it has to be done by codicil or by a new Will.

What Happens to Your Old Will?

Once your new Will is signed, you should destroy the old Will and any old codicils. Leaving them in circulation creates confusion at precisely the moment your family least needs it.

Destruction should be deliberate — physically destroying the document with the intention of revoking it. Don’t simply file it away or mark it “superseded”. If we hold your Will in storage, we’ll deal with this for you and confirm what’s been done.

Do let your executors know that a new Will exists and where it’s kept. A Will nobody can find is of no more use than one that was never made.

Marriage, Divorce and Your Will

These two events affect a Will very differently, and the difference catches people out constantly.

Marriage or Civil Partnership

Marrying or entering a civil partnership revokes any existing Will in England and Wales, unless the Will was made specifically in contemplation of that marriage.

In practice, that means most people who marry are left without a valid Will — and their estate would pass under the intestacy rules rather than as they’d intended. If you’ve married since making your Will, you almost certainly need a new one.

Divorce or Dissolution

Divorce works the other way. It does not revoke your Will, which stays in force in full.

What changes is that your former spouse or civil partner is treated as having died before you. Any gift to them fails, and any appointment of them as executor or trustee falls away. That sounds tidy, but it frequently leaves holes — a residuary gift with no substitute beneficiary, or an estate with no one appointed to administer it.

Note too that separation on its own changes nothing at all. Until the divorce is finalised, a spouse remains a spouse for these purposes.

Can a Will Be Changed Without a Solicitor?

There’s no legal requirement to use a solicitor, and for a very simple amendment it’s possible to do it yourself.

The risk is that DIY amendments go wrong in ways nobody notices until it’s too late. Incorrect witnessing, wording that conflicts with the original Will, a codicil that accidentally revokes more than intended, or a gift that fails because a witness benefits from it — all are common, and all are discovered after death, when they can’t be fixed.

Professional advice is particularly worthwhile where your estate is complex or the change is significant. It’s also worth remembering that a poorly executed amendment is one of the more likely reasons for a Will to be challenged; if that’s a concern, our contested probate solicitors can advise on strengthening your position.

What It Costs to Change Your Will

Less than most people assume, which is why so many out-of-date Wills stay that way.

We provide a quotation in writing before any work begins. A straightforward codicil or a replacement Will with similar terms to the original costs considerably less than starting from scratch, and couples updating mirror Wills together are quoted at a combined rate.

If you’d simply like us to review an existing Will and tell you whether it still works, ask — we’ll explain what that involves and what it would cost. For current fee levels, see our pricing page or call the team.

Related Private Client Services

How Our Solicitors Can Help You Change Your Will

When you come to us, we will:

• Review what you already have. Including Wills prepared elsewhere or drafted yourself — we’re happy to look at either.
• Tell you honestly whether it needs changing. If your existing Will still does what you want, we’ll say so.
• Advise on the right route. Codicil or new Will, with a clear explanation of why.
• Draft the change precisely, so it works alongside — or properly replaces — what came before.
• Make sure it’s signed and witnessed correctly, with the formalities dealt with properly.
• Deal with the old documents, so there’s no confusion about which Will applies.
• Store the new Will and be here when it next needs looking at.
• Quote a in writing before we begin.

Why Choose TV Edwards?

• A dedicated Private Client team. Led by our Head of Private Client, with expertise across Wills, probate, trusts, estate planning and tax.
• Honest advice on what you actually need. We’ll recommend a codicil where a codicil suffices, and tell you when nothing needs doing at all.
• Transparently quoted. In writing, before we start.
• Happy to review Wills made elsewhere. You don’t need to have been a client before.
• A regulated firm of solicitors. Authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, with the accountability that carries.
• Legal 500 recognised. Part of a long-established London firm independently recognised for acting in clients’ best interests.
• A long-term relationship. Many clients return to us every few years as life moves on, which makes each update simpler than the last.

Contact Our Solicitors Today

Changing Your Will FAQs