Life happens.
Circumstances change.
Today you may be married with small children.
In the blink of an eye, those children may be married with their own babies and you may be looking at funding long-term care.
The estate plan that is 100% aligned with your life as a young family when you are 35 may well need adjusting by the time you retire in your 60s.
THAT IS A-OK!
Before we begin, a bit of a vocabulary lesson:
Codicil: an addition or supplement that explains, modifies, or revokes a will or part of one.
Revoke: put an end to the validity or operation of a previously executed Will or Trust.
Should you find yourself needing to change your end-of-life wishes you have 3 basic options. (But as you'll see, only two are very wise).
Option 1: Revoke your existing Will or Trust. Period.
Pro: Likely the cheapest option.
Con: Leaves you at the whims of intestate succession and offers no medicaid planning. Essentially reverts your planning to before you ever executed a will or Trust.
Option 2: Execute a Codicil or Amend your Trust
Pro: Still cheaper than Option 3. Aligns your estate plan with your current wishes.
Con: Since you now have two valid documents, if not done well, this can lead to confusion. How exactly do these (the initial Will and the new Codicil) work together? Exactly which portions of the initial will are now valid and which have been overridden? Confused? Exactly!
Option 3: Revoke previous Will or Trust and redraft
Pro: Eliminates confusion inherent in having two operating documents.
Con: Most expensive due to time necessary for complete redrafting - this is mostly at issue with a Trust. Redrafting a will isn't as significant of an undertaking.
Conclusion - Option 1 is almost never going to be a wise decision. The pro v. con calculus between options 2 and three really depends on the specifics of your case and whether we are dealing with a Trust or a Will. Contact your friendly-neighborhood-attorney to discuss the specifics of your case!
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