I am regularly advising: 鈥淵our will is fine. It doesn鈥檛 need to be updated鈥�.
While debunking misunderstandings about the need to update wills I start feeling like a broken record. It鈥檚 about time that I provide a column listing reasons folks often mistakenly believe their will needs to be updated.
Please read to the end, where I emphatically advise you to review your will periodically with a lawyer to get updated advice about your estate plan and to ensure that your will continues to be an optimal component of that plan.
The will is old
Surely, a will made 25 years ago needs to be updated. Right?
Not necessarily.
I鈥檝e reviewed many 20+ year old wills that are as effective at implementing an optimal estate plan as they were when first made.
I now own a home
Your assets have changed dramatically since you made your last will. Now you own your home. Maybe a revenue property as well.
You have financial investments you didn鈥檛 have before.
Surely, your will needs to be updated to accommodate your new assets, right?
Not necessarily.
Most wills make no reference to particular assets at all. Wills typically say that the estate (whatever it consists of) is to be allocated between beneficiaries in a particular way.
I had appointed a guardian for my children who are now adults
Excellent contingency planning, i.e. making a will appointing a guardian for your minor children. It鈥檚 one of the key reasons why it鈥檚 important for young people to make a will.
Now that your children have become adults, that clause in your will is no longer needed.
But it doesn鈥檛 have to be removed. It鈥檚 as effective as a one-legged person in a butt-kicking contest. It simply no longer has any impact at all.
I鈥檝e moved here from another part of Canada
I cringe at the thought of how many Albertans and others have been mis-advised that their out of province wills aren鈥檛 valid here.
This topic is covered in my column published June 16th, 2024. In a nutshell, a will validly made elsewhere is valid in British Columbia.
You should still have the will reviewed, though, because different British Columbia laws might mean that your will (or estate plan generally) is no longer optimal
My will contains my address, which has changed
The incorrect address is an error right there on the face of your will. Surely, it needs to be updated to contain your current address, right?
Wrong.
I covered this topic in my column published April 21st, 2024. The purpose of the address is to distinguish John Smith the will-maker from all the other John Smiths in the world.
There is only one John Smith who lived at that address at the time the will was made, so the old address continues to be a helpful reference.
My child, a beneficiary, has changed their name
Your will names your child, Jordan Peters, as a beneficiary.
Jordan has changed their name and is now Jordan Guenther. Surely, you have to change your will to ensure your child receives their inheritance, right?
Wrong.
A name change doesn鈥檛 invalidate Jordan鈥檚 status as your beneficiary as long as it鈥檚 clear who you were referring to.
One of my beneficiaries has died
You might have to change your will to accommodate this change in circumstances. But maybe not.
A good will has built-in contingency planning. Wills commonly include clauses that say that if a beneficiary dies before you do, their share goes to their children, or to someone else.
I had named my dad as executor. Now that my kids have grown, I want to name a child
This is another 鈥渋t depends鈥� situation. I encourage you to read my column published December 1st, 2024, which discusses this issue.
But review your will and estate plan with a lawyer!
It鈥檚 not good enough that your will continues to be valid. A valid will is not the goal. You want your will to effectively implement an optimal estate plan that ensures your wishes are followed with as little of your estate as possible going to taxes and legal fees.
The acquisition of new assets might not require a change to your will, but you will benefit from legal advice about how those new assets can be structured to get them into your beneficiaries鈥� hands on your death as smoothly and cheaply as possible.
And there might be all sorts of changes of your circumstances that, when reviewed with a lawyer, might identify ways that your existing will falls short.
I鈥檝e written about how often to review your will in my column published May 5th, 2024.
If you have any difficulty finding my previously published columns, please e-mail me and I鈥檒l help you out.
Paul Hergott
You are encouraged to contact Paul directly at paul@hlaw.ca with legal questions and issues you would like him to write about.
