Revoking a Will

While it is a great idea to create a will early on in your life so your loved ones are protected, that often means that your life circumstances change dramatically before your will is needed. There are some circumstances under which is it necessary to revoke one will before putting a new will into place.

Reasons to Revoke a Will

• Divorce
• Marriage
• Remarriage
• Winning a lottery or some other large sum of money
• Having another child
• Children remarry
• Change of circumstance of a beneficiary

While it is possible to revise existing documents with legal maneuvering, estate attorneys do not recommend this practice. Too often these amendments or codicils are misread, overlooked, disputed or not understood. However, there are those who do not advocate such a path, and instead argue that former wills can be useful in countering arguments of undue influence in changing the will. Particularly in cases where previous wills are very similar to the latest version, it can be very useful to keep copies of prior wills.

Steps to Form a New Will

• Include the date that a new will is signed and executed.
• Include a sentence in the will that revokes all provisions of every previous will. If this is not included, a judge may rule that the new will supercedes the old only in places where the two are in conflict. This has been known to cause problems.
• If you keep an unsigned copy of the old will, each page should have the phrase, "Revoked, superseded by the will dated . . . ." This avoids any confusion with later interpretation.
• Include specific reference to changed life circumstances in the new will.
• If you desire that any child be specifically excluded from the will, it is necessary to specifically state that provision. The courts automatically give equal preference to all living children, regardless of birth order or status, unless specifically directed to do otherwise.
• A spouse must be similarly addressed in specific terms if you do not wish the default legal amount to be left to him or her.
• Include a paragraph delineating what is to be done with any assets not specifically addressed in the will. For example, you may wish “everything remaining” to be left to a spouse or a child, or given to a charity.
• Specifically address any new assets you have acquired, such as automobiles or homes, and discuss how you wish them to be disposed of.

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