Updating your Will

At Ashworth Law, our expert team can help you amend or rewrite your will when your circumstances have changed.

Our team will produce a “codicil”, which is a written document that can be used to make minor amendments to your will.  Such changes could include such things as:

• Adding new beneficiaries, or changing those bequests you have already set up
• Changing or adding guardians for dependent relatives
• Changing or adding an executor for your estate

Just like a Will, the codicil must be signed and witnessed, and is then kept with the will itself.

For more comprehensive changes it may be advisable, or even necessary, to rewrite your will. Our experts can advise when this would be the correct course of action. We make the process of updating your will as hassle-free and cost-effective as possible. In some cases, if we prepared your existing will then we may be able to prepare a new will for you for the price of a codicil, depending on how extensive the changes are.

There is no set time or obligation for amending your will. However, we would recommend that you check your will is up-to-date with your current wishes, every two to three years. 

It is often sensible to check your will remains up to date and in line with your wishes when any major life event takes place within your family, as these can often have an impact on what you would like to happen after your death:

• Divorce
• Marriage / civil partnership
• Separation
• Births in the family
• Deaths in the family

If you have tax-related clauses, you should revisit your will every year to ensure that your intentions have not been altered by any change in the tax laws. Again, Ashworth Law’s specialists can guide you through this.