Life is full of moments of change. Making sure that your will accurately reflects those changes is an important, but often neglected, endeavour that ensures your assets are shared as you’d hoped when you pass. An inaccurate or out-of-date will can make it challenging for your loved ones to access what you’ve set aside for them, so keeping your will up-to-date is vital for ensuring that your friends and family don’t have additional stress and worry during an already challenging time.
Changing your will must be done with professional legal help, requiring an amendment called a codicil that is witnessed in much the same way as your original will. However, for some major changes in your life, sometimes the right thing to do is start over with a new will, and with typed wills now the norm, this method often comes recommended over codicils to ensure clarity. In our latest blog, we’ll discuss the key milestones within your life when you should think about updating your final wishes.
Regularly Review Your Will
Even if your life is taking its expected path, and there have been no significant changes to your situation in the preceding years, we strongly recommend you review and update your will every 5 years at a minimum to ensure that it accurately reflects your current financial and relational situation. Your estate’s value may have changed, or may now include specific assets which you wish to bequeath to certain people. Reviewing your will should include assessing listed assets, removing ones you no longer have the power to distribute or, perhaps, adding new ones to it. You should also update things like cash gifts to reflect your new financial situation. If you’ve moved house, or released some of the equity in your home, you will need to update your will to reflect this change. You may also wish to create a trust fund for your grandchildren, which should be added during these reviews. Furthermore, you should ensure that your executors and beneficiaries are all still as intended.
Changes to Taxes & Legislation
Changes in inheritance tax will affect what, and how much, you can give out in your will. In 2017, tax rule changes meant that a main residence nil rate band decreased the amount of tax payable if the deceased’s residential property was left to a descendant upon death. Whilst changes to the law don’t always affect the validity of your will, they can change the outcome of it, changing what you have to give. If new laws change your circumstances, you should review your will and make changes as desired.
Marriage & Divorce
Marriage will negate any previous will you have made, unless you include provision in your original will for such a change. When you get married you will need to update your will to include specific wording, or your estate will be distributed according to the rules of intestacy, as if you’ve not written one at all.
Not all relationships go to plan, but unlike marriage divorce does not immediately cancel your will. Following a divorce, or the dissolution of a civil partnership, your ex-spouse will be treated as deceased within your will, meaning they do not benefit from it, but your will will remain valid. If you wish for them to still receive funds from your estate, or wish to write them out completely, an update will be necessary.
Births & Deaths
The vast majority of people bequeath their estate to their offspring and descendants, but this process is not automatic. You may include future children in your will, which will automatically see named parts of your estate distributed amongst them regardless of whether they are specifically stated. Alternatively, you can update your will as your children are born, adding them as a beneficiary and bequeathing items and assets to their name.
Sometimes, people pass unexpectedly. If a beneficiary or executor passes before you, your will needs to be updated to reflect this. Wills should include substitute provisions in case a beneficiary passes away, or be updated in the event of their passing to distribute the assets set aside for them to a new person. The executor of your estate is the person who ensures your assets are distributed correctly should you pass on. If they pass away before you, it’s crucial to update your will to ensure you have someone who has the capacity to execute it when you depart. We always recommend having more than one executor to ensure that your will is covered, but it is still vital to update your named executors as circumstances change.
Do you need assistance with updating your will?
Creating or updating your will can feel like a daunting task, and with so many things to consider, it can be difficult to know where to start. At RRK Legal, we understand that you want to make sure your affairs are in order for whatever the future holds – but we also recognise that you may not have a lot of time or energy to devote to this task. That’s why we’ve made it our mission to make the process as simple and straightforward as possible. We offer will writing services for all sizes of estates, from simple individual wills to complex mirror wills for couples.
We work with you every step of the way, from discussing your needs and goals to drafting your will, so you always feel confident about making sure your estate is set up in accordance with your wishes. In addition to offering will writing services, we may also discuss additional estate planning services such as trusts, powers of attorney, and funeral plans to build a comprehensive estate plan for you. When you work with RRK Legal, you can rest assured knowing that we only operate under the highest standards of integrity in accordance with the Society of Will Writers’ code of conduct, with your satisfaction at the forefront of everything we do. Get in touch today for your free, no-obligation estate planning consultation – we are based in Birmingham and serve clients all over the West Midlands, Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and beyond!
Website: www.rrklegal.co.uk
Email: info@rrklegal.co.uk
Telephone: 01215460771
