A will written the year you got married is probably not the right will for the year your second child was born, your parents died, you bought a house, or your marriage ended. Wills do not update themselves. The document you signed five or ten years ago reflects the people, relationships, and assets that existed then. If those have changed significantly, the will may distribute your estate in ways you no longer intend, to people who are no longer the right recipients, through an executor who is no longer the right choice.
Updating a will is not complicated. Here is when to do it, how the two main methods work, and what happens if you skip it.
When a will should be updated
Any significant change in your personal circumstances or the composition of your estate is a signal to review the will. Not every change requires a full rewrite, but every change should at least prompt a review.
Marriage is a trigger in many states because of automatic revocation rules. Several states automatically revoke an entire will when the will-maker gets married, on the theory that the new spouse should be provided for and the old will may not have contemplated the marriage. Other states do not automatically revoke but give the new spouse a forced share of the estate that can override will provisions. Either way, getting married without updating an existing will creates uncertainty. Creating a new will that reflects the marriage is the clean approach.
Divorce is handled differently. Most states automatically revoke any provisions in the will that benefit a former spouse or appoint them as executor, but only as to the former spouse. The rest of the will remains in effect. This sounds like a useful protection, but it can create gaps: the former spouse may have been named as the primary beneficiary with no contingent beneficiary specified, leaving no one to receive that share after the automatic revocation. Reviewing and updating the will after a divorce is necessary even in states that automatically revoke spousal provisions.
Birth or adoption of a child is a common reason wills become inadequate. A will that leaves everything to existing children and says nothing about future children may or may not include a new child depending on how it is worded. Some wills specifically include afterborn children in defined distributions. Others do not. Many states have pretermitted heir statutes that give an accidentally omitted child a forced share, but relying on these statutes rather than updating the will is imprecise. Every new child is a reason to review the will and confirm that the guardian designation, executor designation, and distribution provisions reflect the current family.
Death of a named beneficiary, executor, or guardian requires updating. If a primary beneficiary dies and no contingent beneficiary is named, that share may fall into the residuary or pass by intestacy. If the executor dies and no successor is named, the probate court appoints one without guidance from the will-maker. If the named guardian for minor children dies, there may be no documented preference for who should raise them. Each of these is a gap that should be closed by updating the will.
Significant changes in assets can affect how well the will accomplishes its goals. A will that leaves a house to one child and investment accounts to another may have reflected equal values at the time it was written. If the house has appreciated dramatically or been sold and replaced, or if the investment accounts have grown substantially, the intended equal distribution may no longer be equal. A will that leaves a specific business interest to a named person becomes complicated if the business has been sold, restructured, or transferred into a trust. Reviewing the will when major assets change ensures the distribution provisions still make sense.
Moving to a different state does not automatically invalidate an existing will, but it is a reason to review it. Most states recognize wills validly executed under the laws of another state, so a California will executed with two witnesses is valid in Texas. However, state-specific provisions may no longer function as intended. California uses community property rules that affect how assets are characterized in ways that differ from Texas. A will drafted for California family dynamics and probate procedures may need adjustment to work optimally in Texas. At minimum, a move is a reason to confirm that the will is still appropriate for the new state.
The two ways to change a will: codicil vs new will
There are two legally recognized methods for changing an existing will. Everything else, including crossing out provisions, writing in the margins, or stapling notes to the document, is not effective and may create problems for the estate.
A codicil is a formal amendment to an existing will. It is executed with the same formalities as the original will: signed by the will-maker, witnessed by two qualified adults, and typically notarized with a self-proving affidavit. A codicil states the specific provisions being changed and how, while leaving the rest of the original will in effect. The codicil and the original will are then probated together.
Codicils were the standard approach in the era when wills were typed or handwritten and reprinting the entire document was burdensome. In the modern context, where wills are created digitally and can be regenerated easily, codicils are used less often. The main argument for a codicil today is that it preserves evidence of the original will's execution, which can be useful if the amendment is ever contested. The arguments against: an estate administered under two documents (the will and one or more codicils) is more complex than an estate under a single current will, and multiple codicils over time can create interpretive confusion about which provisions control.
A new will that expressly revokes all prior wills is the cleaner approach for most updates. The new will starts fresh, incorporates all the provisions that remain current from the old will, and adds or changes the provisions that need updating. It explicitly revokes the prior document, eliminating any uncertainty about which controls. For any update that involves more than a minor change to a single provision, a new will is usually the better choice.
A new will is not dramatically more work than a codicil when using a guided platform. Quicken WillMaker & Trust by Nolo allows the complete will to be regenerated with the updated provisions and re-executed in a single session. The platform also updates all other estate planning documents in the package at the same time, so the power of attorney and healthcare directive can be reviewed and refreshed alongside the will.
What you cannot do: informal changes
Crossing out a name, writing in a new beneficiary in the margin, or attaching a note to the will does not change it legally. Courts apply the formal execution requirements strictly: a change to a will must be made by a codicil executed with full formalities or by revoking the original and executing a new will. Informal changes are ignored in probate, and in some states, an attempt to informally alter a will can raise questions about the the will-maker's intent that complicate the entire proceeding.
There is one narrow exception. In states that recognize holographic wills, a handwritten change to a typed will may be treated as a holographic codicil if the change is entirely in the the will-maker's handwriting and signed. But this depends on state law, creates interpretive uncertainty, and is not a recommended approach even where technically possible.
Beneficiary designations: separate from the will but equally important
Life events that prompt a will update should also prompt a review of beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and payable-on-death bank accounts. These designations pass assets outside the will entirely. A will that leaves everything to a current spouse does not override a life insurance policy that still names a former spouse as beneficiary. The beneficiary designation controls, regardless of what the will says.
Beneficiary designation updates are made directly with the account custodian or insurance company, not through the will. They require completing the institution's own form. After any major life event, reviewing all accounts with beneficiary designations and confirming they are current and consistent with the overall estate plan is as important as updating the will itself.
A real-world example
David wrote his will at 35 when he had one child, owned a rental property, and was married to his first wife. He named his wife as primary beneficiary, his brother as executor, and his parents as guardians for his child. By 45, he has divorced, remarried, had two more children, his parents have died, and his brother has moved abroad. His state automatically revoked the provisions benefiting his first wife, so she is no longer a beneficiary. But his two younger children are not named in the will at all. His brother is still named as executor despite living overseas. His parents are still named as guardians for the oldest child, but both are deceased. There are no contingent beneficiaries for the residuary estate. David updates the will: he names his current wife as primary beneficiary with all three children as contingent beneficiaries per stirpes, appoints his current wife as executor with a local trusted friend as successor, and names his wife's sister as guardian with a backup. The update takes two hours and addresses ten years of life changes in a single session.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does getting married automatically invalidate my existing will?
It depends on the state. Several states, including Georgia and others that follow older common law rules, automatically revoke an existing will upon marriage. Most other states do not automatically revoke the will but give the new spouse a statutory share of the estate that can override will provisions. A few states have no automatic effect at all. The safest approach after marriage is always to create a new will that reflects the new family structure, rather than relying on whatever automatic rules your state applies.
Does divorce automatically remove my ex-spouse from my will?
In most states, yes, divorce automatically revokes will provisions that benefit the former spouse and provisions that appoint them as executor. But the automatic revocation only removes the former spouse. It does not add anyone in their place. If your former spouse was the primary beneficiary with no contingent beneficiary named, their share may fall into the residuary or pass by intestacy after the automatic revocation. Updating the will after a divorce to name new beneficiaries, a new executor, and revised guardian designations is necessary even in states with automatic revocation rules.
Can I change my will without a lawyer?
Yes. A will can be updated using a codicil or a new will created through a guided platform, without attorney involvement. The same rules that allow self-execution of an original will apply to updates: proper execution with qualified witnesses and ideally a notarized self-proving affidavit. Attorney involvement makes sense for complex updates involving significant assets, contested family situations, or changes that require careful drafting to accomplish the intended result. For most routine life-event updates, a guided platform that generates state-specific documents is fully workable.
What if I change my mind frequently? Should I keep updating the will?
A will can be updated as often as the will-maker wishes while they have capacity. There is no limit on revisions. Frequent updates are better than a will that no longer reflects current wishes, provided each update is properly executed. The only practical concern with very frequent changes is the potential for confusion about which document controls and, in a contested estate, questions about the the will-maker's stability of intent. Using a platform that generates a clean new will each time, with an explicit revocation of all prior wills, eliminates the "which document controls" question. The most recent properly executed will always governs.
How do I make sure the old will is truly revoked when I create a new one?
The standard approach is to include explicit revocation language at the beginning of the new will: "I revoke all prior wills and codicils." This is legally effective in every state. For additional certainty, physically destroying the original will (tearing, shredding, or burning) after the new will is executed also constitutes revocation in most states. Notifying the executor named in the old will that a new will has been created is good practice. If the old will was stored with a safe deposit box, attorney, or court clerk, those custodians should be informed of the revocation and provided the new document.