Upon establishing your last will, you may have felt confident in the decisions you made and the instructions you left behind. However, our firm understands all too well how quickly a grantor’s circumstances may change or how drastically their wishes evolve. This is to say that grantors may amend their last wills more often than you may initially realize; so you must understand that you are not alone if this is your sentiment. Follow along to find out how to amend your will and how a proficient Broward County wills lawyer at The Probate Lawyers can help you do this in a valid and enforceable way.
Under what circumstances is amending my will necessary?
As you may already know, it is rather impossible to predict what life may have in store for you. Meaning that it is likely for your life circumstances to significantly change from the date on which you signed the bottom of your last will. Further, such changes may make your last will outdated, inaccurate, and possibly even inadmissible in the Florida probate court. Without further ado, it may be in your best interest to amend your will if you experience any of the following shifts:
- You may no longer trust a beneficiary’s financial handling and thereby wish to amend what their inheritance can be used for.
- You may require more intensive healthcare than originally anticipated and thereby wish to change the amount set aside to pay these bills.
- Your beneficiary may have changed their name upon getting married and you thereby wish to update their name for clarity.
- Your appointed executor may have passed on before you and you thereby wish to designate another executor and coexecutor of your estate.
In what ways can I amend my will?
There are three common ways to go about amending your will. Namely, you may create a codicil, write a new last will, or make a personal property memorandum. Specific details of each method are as follows:
- Creating a codicil: here, you may formally write what you wish to add, edit, or remove from your existing will. Then, it may be analyzed alongside your existing will by the Florida probate court.
- Writing a new last will: here, you may revoke your existing will and replace it with an entirely new one. Then, you may not have to worry about your wishes being misinterpreted by the Florida probate court.
- Making a new personal property memorandum: here, you may revoke your existing personal property memorandum, which lists the specific items of tangible property to distribute to specific beneficiaries, and replace it with an entirely new one. With this, you must mention its existence in your last will to be acknowledged by the Florida probate court.
When dealing with an urgent matter like this, you must drop everything and contact a talented Broward County estate lawyer. Our team at The Probate Lawyers is ready to help you put the missing puzzle pieces together.
