Codicil – an Addition to a Last will and Testament
Janet Cribb
Many years ago when Dickens was writing his novels lawyers and accountants had their records and documents hand-written by professional scribes, such as Bob Cratchett in A Christmas Carol.
Before the days of word processors, even, the writing of Wills would be done by a good secretary with expert and accurate typing skills so that the final document was perfect and there were no errors to cross out.
In those days if someone wanted to change any part of the Will where most of it was still all right, then to save writing or typing out the whole document again, a codicil, usually only one page long, was used to make the changes. A good codicil takes the same form as a Last Will and Testament. It has the full name and address of the testator at the top, it makes reference to the existing Will, and confirms everything in it with the exception of the part that is revoked and/or changed by the codicil itself.
A codicil might be used, for instance, if a beneficiary is to be included or excluded, or an executor added or removed. A change of address in itself does not mean you have to write a codicil, but if you write a codicil and your address has changed then you can make a reference to it in the document whilst you are at it. A codicil has to be carefully drafted and then signed and witnessed in exactly the same way as a Will, i.e. in the presence of two witnesses.
Having said that, advances in technology have made a big difference in the way Wills are produced now, and I personally discourage the use of Codicils, for the following reasons:
- They can get lost or deliberately destroyed and no-one is any the wiser
- Badly done, they can cause trouble and possibly revoke items that you want to retain.
- They need to be read in sequence if more than one and can cause confusion about the actual intention of the testator as set out in the original Will.
With soft copies of Wills held on file in a computer it is easy enough to make the required changes and reprint it without having to hand write or type the Will, which was time consuming and therefore expensive. It is just as easy to sign a new Will as it is to sign a Codicil.
You do not need to use the same witnesses as your Last Will; anybody over 18 who is able to see, sane, sober and awake will do.
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Janet Cribb
Channel: Wills & Living Trusts |
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