How To Change a Will

We regularly receive requests for guidance on how to change a will. Changing a will is very straightforward, but there are a number of ways to do it, depending on your situation, and which we will explore in this guide.

Ways to Change a Will

There are a number of ways in which you can change a will.

When it comes to amending a will, the way in which you change a will depends on whether you are looking to change it before or after death.

If you are looking to change your own will, then no doubt you are alive. Accordingly, you can alter your will yourself, either

(a) using a very short document called a codicil; or

(b) by making a fresh will.

On the other hand, if you are looking to change someone else’s will, you can do this after their death using a deed of variation. We look at each of these in turn in more detail below.

1. Changing a Will With a Codicil

A codicil is a short addendum that forms a separate document from the original will, but which is added to the original will, and stored with it. It modifies one or more parts of the original will, and the rest of the will still stands. the codicil is the only official way to amend a will without making a totally fresh will to replace the old one. If the amendments to be made to a will are minor, then it is usually preferable to implement the small change using a codicil. This is better than incurring the time and the cost of getting a completely new will written up.

If the only change you want to make is to update an address, then you don’t need to do anything. You can just keep a written note with the will that an address has changed. You don’t need to use a codicil for this. When keeping the written note with the will, do not attach it by any means. So don’t use staples or paperclips, for example, since you should not attach anything to any will.

Legalo’s Range of Codicils

We offer a range of codicil templates that we have customised to the most common situations, and these are:

A Standard Codicil Template – this is our general codicil template. It enables you to implement any alteration that you want to your will.

A Codicil to Change Executor – quite often the change to be made to the will is simply to change executors. Since this situation is so common we have edited our standard codicil template to cover this exact situation.

A Codicil to Add a Beneficiary – we have edited this version of our codicil for your needs. It makes it easy for you to you amend your will to add a gift to a new beneficiary.

A Codicil to Leave a Gift to a Charity – this version of our codicil has been edited so that it covers the situation where you want to alter your will to add a gift to a charity.

If you want to amend something else in your will other than the last 3 options above, then please use our Standard Codicil template.

2. Changing a Will by Making a New Will

If you want to make a lot of alterations to your will, it is usually easier to redo the whole will from scratch, rather than amending various parts of it using a codicil. You can make a replacement will in this way with any of our will templates.

To see the full range of our will templates, click here to find the one that best suits you.

3. Changing a Will With a Deed of Variation

A deed of variation (or a Deed of Family Arrangement, as it is often referred to) is the document that needs to be used to alter a will after the death of the person that made the will. In this situation, the affected beneficiaries can change the will, with the help of the executors.

Frequently, people ask us the question ‘Can an executor change a will?’. The executor can change the will, but the change will only be legally binding if:

• it is in writing (which is why you need to use the Deed of Variation); and
• all of the beneficiaries who the change affects sign it.

Normally it is a beneficiary that chooses to divert some of their inheritance to someone else. Therefore, usually the beneficiary sorts the deed of variation out, and then passes it to the executors to implement.

We have a more detailed guide on how to do this and what other requirements apply: find it here.

You can find our Deed of Variation for a Will template here.

What should I do next?

Having read this Legalo guide, you should now be familiar with:

• How to change a will; and
• The different ways in which you can do that.

You can use our templates for changing a will, without needing an expensive lawyer. Each template comes with a guide to make the process very simple for you. If you do have any queries on how to use them, we also offer free support for our templates. So, by using our templates, you will save hundreds of pounds on the cost of using a high street law firm. They are perfect when you don’t need to use a solicitor in order to create a binding, valid, legal document.