As we have talked about numerous times before on this blog, your will is a critical component to your entire estate plan. Without one, your last wishes may not be appropriately represented. So having a will is important not just to securing your legacy and nest egg, but also to protecting your loved ones and beneficiaries.
But a will is unlikely to remain the same throughout your life. Circumstances will warrant updates, and there may be times where you want to outright revoke or destroy the will. So let’s discuss some of these topics.
First, if you want to change your will, it is often easier to just destroy the old will and create a new one. This is the act of revoking the original will, and it can be done by tearing it apart, putting it through the paper shredder, or quit literally burning it as if you were a movie villain. These are all acceptable ways to destroy the original will. You can then recreate the will but with your changes implemented.
If you don’t want to destroy or revoke your will, then you can create was it called a “codicil” in your will, which is quite simply an amendment to your current will.
There may also be times where a will is legally challenged, and this can happen for a variety of reasons. Beneficiaries may challenge a will based on the grantor’s testamentary capacity, or if “undue influence” was used to sway the grantor. legal challenges could also be mounted if another will exists or if fraud or forgery are involved.
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