Reviews & Updates

It's important to review your will periodically. Even if your situation remains unchanged, the legal and financial regulations may change over time, making your current will unsuitable. Additionally, major life events such as marriage, the birth of a child, or a divorce can impact your wishes and intentions, making it critical to ensure that your will is still aligned with your wishes. At Fern Wills and LPAs, we understand that creating a Will can be a daunting task, but we strongly recommend that you review it every five years or sooner if any major changes occur. 

Remember that a review is free and always without obligation or pressure to change anything, so it's always worth considering. 

🌿We anticipate significant changes: 

It is not practical to modify your will every year or for every minor change. When we draft your Will, we take into account significant changes that may occur in the future, such as the possibility that your primary beneficiary might pass away before you do. We also include alternative executors, trustees and guardians and add fallback clauses and flexibility within trusts if required. Your will should remain sensible even if the value of your estate fluctuates, although there are limits to how many possibilities you can cover in the initial document.

🌿 Will Vs Codicil

A codicil is used to update and amend a Will, though it only makes sense when you want to make minor changes. There are some risks regarding clarity, losing documents, challenges to the estate, etc. Therefore, we do not write codicils.

🌿Checklist for reviews

A relationship has changed for the better or worse, it may affect who and how much you would like them to benefit from your Will.

Changes in the value of your estate and disposal of assets left to specific beneficiaries. 

Legal and financial regulations may evolve even if your circumstances remain the same. Your Will may no longer fully minimise the liability for inheritance tax. 

Your executors or appointed guardians pass away or inform you that they cannot fulfil their roles or plan to relocate. 

If your child goes through a divorce, you might worry about their spouse claiming part of the inheritance. 

You experience a divorce yourself. While your ex-spouse no longer benefits, the Will remains valid but may no longer effectively distribute your estate. 

You may marry or remarry; your will is automatically revoked unless expressly created in anticipation of that specific marriage. 

Please remember these are just a few considerations. A conversation or a full review of your Will is free and without any obligation or pressure to change anything.