Formalities For A Will – Revoking A Will
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Want to make a start on your will?
Making a Will is not about wealth it is about making sure that what you want to happen to your estate does happen. It gives you the opportunity to specify such things as who will administer your estate, who will care for your children and who will receive specific items of your property.
A will may be revoked at any time prior to the testator’s death.
If making a will at a solicitor’s office,. the solicitor will ensure that any previous will is destroyed.
The making of a new will revokes the previous one by operation of law but to have old wills floating around is unsafe.Suppose the wrong one is removed from storage and taken to be your last will on your death? If you decide to make a will yourself after previously making a will with a solicitor, be sure to notify the solicitor.
Example
Mike makes a will with his solicitor when he is a 25-yearold newlywed.
At the age of 45 he decides to make a few changes. He decides to do the job himself but omits to date the will or to inform his solicitor of his actions. He asks two neighbours to be witnesses. They are both elderly and die before Mike does.
On his death his solicitor is holding one will and the relatives produce the handwritten one. In the absence of the witnesses a considerable argument ensues as to which is the later will. It may be that the nature of the gifts will indicate the date.
For instance, if Mike refers to a house which he did not own at the time of the solicitor-made will this indicates that the home-made will is the later. On the other hand, the will may make no reference to specific gifts. An expensive argument is likely to ensue.
Find out more – Components Of A Will or Components Of A Will – Your Details
- external sites: Wills, Probate and Trusts