Common reasons why people decide to make an amendment to a will include:[2] X Research source executor of the will has passed or is no longer desirable. beneficiaries need to be changed or others need to be added. special needs of your family have changed – for instance, the guardian(s) of minor children have passed or must be replaced. financial circumstances – assets and liabilities – of your life have changed. funeral and burial arrangements have changed. there are significant tax consequences that are not covered by our will that must be addressed to protect the beneficiaries.
“I [your name], [your address – including the city, county and state in which you live], being of sound mind, declare that this Codicil to the Last Will and Testament of [your name] is effective on this date and shall hereby amend my Last Will and Testament dated [insert date of will] as follows:” Include the date of your original will in your codicil. Including this date will show that you are aware of the original document and help prevent those who interpret your will from thinking that you may have created this document without knowledge of the original will.
If you want to amend something, you could write: “Article 1 shall be amended to state [State your present and foreseen needs and desires that need to be changed - for example, changing the name(s) of beneficiary(ies) and/or the executor of the will. ]” If you want to delete an article, you could write: “Article 1 shall be deleted in its entirety. ” If you want to add an article, you could write: “Article 8 is hereby added as follows: [Include additional directives that were not included in your original will - for example, adding a provision that will afford your estate the optimum tax consequences upon your death. ]”
If you used an attorney for the original will, consider hiring the same attorney to draft the codicil. This will assure consistency. Likewise, if you used specific software to draft your will, consider using the same software to draft your codicil.
You might also consider having an attorney read over your codicil. In that case, you will need to provide the attorney with a copy of your existing will as well.
If you are satisfied that the codicil to your last will and testament expresses your desires and needs to meet your post-death wishes, make certain that you sign the codicil in the presence of competent witnesses who have no personal or financial interest in your will. If your state requires three witnesses to execute a will, then use three for the codicil.
“I, [insert name], declare to the officer taking my acknowledgement of this instrument, and to the subscribing witnesses, that I signed this instrument as my codicil. ”[10] X Research source Then sign your name beneath this language. Insert the following language for the witnesses. “We, [insert name] and [insert name], have been sworn by the officer signing below, and declare to that officer on our oaths that the testator declared the instrument to be the testator’s codicil and signed it in our presence, and that we each signed the instrument as witnesses in the presence of the testator and of each other. ”[11] X Research source Then have the two witnesses sign beneath this. Then include this language for the notary: “Acknowledged and subscribed before me by the testator, [type or print the testator’s name], who is personally known to me or who has produced [state the identification], and sworn to and subscribed before me by the witnesses, [print or type name of first witness], who is personally known to me or who has produced [state the identification produced] as identification, and [type or print name of second witness], who is personally known to me or who has produced [state type of identification produced] as identification, and subscribed by me in the presence of the testator and the subscribing witnesses, all on [insert the date]. ”[12] X Research source Then have the notary sign and affix official stamp or seal.
