Wills

While a will remains legally valid until or unless it is changed or replaced, wills do often need to be changed. Individuals relocate, buy or sell assets, and have family changes such as births, deaths, and divorces. These changes in circumstances do not necessarily invalidate a will, but they can create significant confusion if the will leaves an asset that has been sold or if someone who is no longer on good terms with the testator is left a bequest.

As part of reviewing the entire estate plan, Rhodium Law suggests reviewing a will every three to five years to ensure that it is still reflective of the individual’s wishes. Additionally, if there is a significant change that would impact the will, the individual should change the will as soon as possible to make sure that their current will is most reflective of their current circumstances and wishes.

Codicils can be used to change a will. A codicil is a legal document that makes one or more revisions to a will. This document must be executed in the same way a will is to be considered valid. While this is a legal option for changing a will, it is not recommended. Because it is a separate document, it could be lost, which means the revisions it made will not be honored.  Additionally, if there is more than one codicil, this could lead to confusion about what the testator intended and whether both codicils are valid.

A will can also be revoked at any time. This can be done by intentionally destroying it by burning, shredding, tearing, or otherwise destroying it. The testator can also ask someone else to destroy the will. Writing a new will will also revoke any existing wills. However, if an individual writes a new will to replace an existing will, it is still recommended to destroy the older will. While Ohio law generally recognizes the most recent will as the valid one, the existence of another will may slow probate down and allow others to contest either will.

Individuals might be tempted to include everything in their will for simplicity. They may believe that condensing everything into one document will make things easier and faster. However, several things cannot be included in a will. While including these things will not invalidate the will, their inclusion can slow down probate, cause confusion, and result in those items not being distributed as intended.

When writing their wills, individuals should exclude any trusts or assets owned by a trust and property or real estate that is jointly owned with rights of survivorship. Accounts that are payable-on-death or retirement accounts such as 401(k)s or IRAs should also be excluded. Life insurance policy payments should also not be included in a will unless the beneficiary is the individual’s estate.

Individuals should also not include inheritances that have specific terms or conditions placed on them. For example, if the individual wants to leave money to an individual so they will act as guardian to a pet, by doing so in a will, the intended pet guardian could give up the pet and keep the money. Instead, inheritances with terms or conditions may be better placed in a trust where the trust grantor can stipulate the circumstances and know they will be honored.

Instructions related to funeral or burial arrangements, organ donation, or other time-sensitive instructions should also be written separately from a will. In the aftermath of the individual’s death, their loved ones may not look for their will right away. Instead, organ donation, funeral instructions, and even guardianship of minor children should be noted in other documents such as advance directives to ensure the information is found and carried out appropriately.