After significant life changes like marriage, divorce, or the birth or adoption of children, you may want to make changes to your will. If the changes are not complicated, your experienced wills attorney can make them using codicils. If they are more complicated, a new will might be appropriate.

Codicils are useful tools when most of your will is going to remain the same. Instead of rewriting it, a codicil is an addition that, when attached to the will and presented for probate, is treated as one with the will. A lawyer can help you with codicils in Lake St. Louis when you want to make simple changes.

Requirements for Codicils to be Legal

Codicils must be in writing and signed by the testator, who must be of sound mind. If the testator cannot sign because of a disability, another person they designate can sign for them, as long as that person is not one of the two witnesses required.

Tampering With a Will Instead of Adding a Codicil

Sometimes, a beneficiary with bad intentions attempts to make notes in a will to adjust the share they would receive.

Per state law, notes made in the margins of a will that materially change the original intention are subject to the doctrine of dependent relative revocation. While the beneficiary may assume they are adding a codicil to the will by changing percentages of bequests, the attempted codicil will not be valid because the notes were not witnessed as a codicil must be.

Why Testators Need Codicils

Although material changes are better left to a new will, codicils are preferable when making small changes that do not affect the entire will. These could include:

• The testator wants to amend burial arrangements
• The testator discovers a new charity they wish to support
• The personal representative chosen to administer the will dies
• A testator named a guardian for minor children who can no longer serve
• An asset the testator leaves to a beneficiary is sold, and a replacement is chosen
• The testator marries and wishes to acknowledge the new spouse and stepchildren

To ensure any additions to a will are legal codicils, consult a Lake St. Louis attorney who can verify the legal requirements were met.

Revocation is Another Choice

Revocation is another tool estate planning attorneys use to change to a will. When a testator wishes to make several changes, it may be better to revoke the will and have a new one drafted. This can be accomplished as easily as ripping up or burning an old will and expressly stating in a new will that a revocation has occurred. An attorney could help a testator make changes to avoid problems during the probate process.

Consult an Attorney in Lake St. Louis When Adding Codicils

It is never too soon to plan for the disposition of your assets after your passing. Many life changes may warrant keeping that will up to date. You can make minor changes by adding codicils instead of scrapping a will and starting over.

Writing notes in the margin of your will is risky because the probate court could assume you are revoking a section without witnesses and let it revert to the original version you no longer want to use. Contact our firm to schedule a consultation for codicils in Lake St. Louis.