People make changes to their estate plans for a number of reasons. You may have become estranged from someone you had named as a beneficiary. A house you left to someone in your will may have been sold when you moved into a retirement home. Your financial situation could have changed, meaning that you have new assets to account for in your will or trust. When you choose to make changes to a will or trust, it is important to follow the correct legal procedure. Attempting to do it yourself might result in the creation of an unenforceable document. It is important to have a Kendall County, IL estate planning attorney help you make amendments properly.
Amending or Changing a Will in Kendall County, IL
If you are making substantial changes to your will, such as eliminating a beneficiary, changing who receives what, or adding a significant amount of new property, it is may be better to make a new will. This means that you will formally revoke your former will and replace it with a will that expresses your current wishes. While you can use a codicil to make minor changes – for example, if you were going to leave your son a Honda Civic but you traded it in for a Toyota Tacoma and want him to have that instead – codicils can become complicated. The formalities that apply to will execution apply to codicils.