How to update or change your Will

• You marry or enter a civil partnership, which cancels an earlier Will.
• You separate or divorce.
• A child or grandchild arrives.
• Someone named in the Will dies or becomes unwell.
• You buy, sell or inherit a property.
• You fall out with, or back in with, someone who is named.
• Nothing at all has happened, but five years have passed.

Crossing a name out, adding a note in the margin or attaching a handwritten page does not work. Those marks are ignored at best, and at worst they raise questions about whether the Will was tampered with. Removing a staple can cause the same trouble. Leave the original exactly as it was signed.

A codicil is a short separate document that amends a Will. It has to be signed and witnessed just like a Will. It suits a single small change, such as swapping an executor. For anything more, a fresh Will is clearer and usually costs much the same. A new Will revokes the old one outright, so there is nothing left to be argued over.

Once the new Will is signed, the old original should be destroyed so that only one version exists. If you are keeping copies for your own records, mark them plainly so nobody mistakes them for the real thing.

Somewhere dry, safe and findable. A home safe is fine if your executors know the combination. Banks are less convenient than people expect, because the box often cannot be opened until probate is granted, and probate needs the Will. Whatever you choose, tell your executors where it is. A perfect Will nobody can find helps nobody.

A new Will is priced the same as any other Will, with the fee agreed before we start. You can see everything on the price list, or read what affects the cost.