Once you execute your will, you can amend or revoke it before you die. Many find this comforting, as your relationships and assets may change. If you marry or sell a home, you may want to modify your will. If you divorce after executing a will in Missouri, any provisions you made for your ex-spouse are revoked for you.

When you want to change parts of your asset documentation, you may draft a new will from scratch or amend your existing one. Consult a seasoned will attorney about codicils in O’Fallon to determine what is best for you.

What Is a Codicil?

A codicil amends a will already in place without drafting a new one. At the time of probate, a will and its codicil will be considered one, according to Missouri state law. Codicils allow testators to:

• Add newly acquired assets or beneficiaries
• Alter provisions when circumstances warrant
• Delete gifts, beneficiaries when relationships sour, or any other provision
• Substitute personal representatives, executors, assets, or one beneficiary for another

Although updating a will may sound like a testator is revoking provisions, revocation and codicils differ. An estate planning lawyer could draft a will or amend one with appropriate O’Fallon codicils.

Revocation

Modification of a will often leads to revocation instead. A court may deem modifications to signal total revocation if someone makes significant changes.

According to Missouri Revised Statutes § 474.400, testators who make handwritten notes to a will, changing asset disposition, will find those changes subject to the doctrine of dependent relative revocation. The changes would be subject to the legal requirements for codicils, and if they are not, the changes will be stricken and reverted to their original form.

Legal Requirements for Codicils

Codicils must adhere to the same legal requirements of a will. They must be in writing and signed by the testator in the presence of two witnesses. To make a will or add a codicil, testators must be 18 or a married minor, on active military duty, or emancipated. They also must be mentally competent.

If a testator cannot sign the will or codicil, another person can—provided the person signing is not also a witness. Witnesses must sign with the testator present. Consult an O’Fallon estate planning lawyer to amend a will using a codicil.

An Attorney Could Manage O’Fallon Will Codicils

If you have not recently updated your will, you may want to revisit it to ensure the assets you named are valid and the beneficiaries who are getting them are still the ones you chose.

Consider a codicil when you want to make small additions, alterations, substitutes, or deletions to your will. You have the right to change your will until your death. To ensure codicils in O’Fallon comply with Missouri law, consult a knowledgeable wills lawyer at our firm by calling today.