A client came to me last year holding a will he’d signed in 1995. In the decades since, he had remarried, welcomed two grandchildren, and sold the Manhattan co-op that was his primary asset at the time. The executor he had named—his brother—had passed away five years earlier. His will was a legal fossil, a document describing a life he no longer lived and a family that had fundamentally changed. It was an instrument of chaos, not of order.
Many people treat a will as a task to be completed once and then forgotten. But a will is a snapshot of your life at a specific moment. As your life evolves, the gap between what your will says and what you intend can grow into a chasm. Stewardship demands vigilance. An outdated will can disinherit loved ones, create needless tax burdens, and spark bitter disputes in Surrogate’s Court.
When Life Outpaces Your Legacy Plan
There is no single rule for how often to review your will. Some people say every three to five years, and that is a prudent guideline. What matters more are the life events that should automatically trigger a review. These are moments when the core assumptions on which your will was built have shifted.
Changes in Your Family
The most common triggers are personal. Marriage, for example, gives a new spouse substantial inheritance rights. A divorce may automatically disqualify an ex-spouse from inheriting under a will, but relying on a statute is poor planning. Deliberate action is always better. The birth or adoption of a child or grandchild means new people depend on you—people your old will may not even mention. Conversely, the death of a beneficiary or a named executor requires immediate attention. If your chosen executor is no longer able to serve, the court will appoint someone, and it may not be the person you would have wanted.
Changes in Your Finances
Your financial picture is rarely static. You might sell a major asset—like a family business or a piece of real estate—that was specifically bequeathed in your will. This can lead to a result called “ademption,” where the intended beneficiary gets nothing because the asset is gone. You might also acquire significant new assets through inheritance or success. A sudden increase in your net worth could have estate tax implications that your original will was not designed to address. An intentional review ensures the will’s mechanics align with your current balance sheet.
The Right Way to Make a Change
When clients realize their will is out of date, their first question is often about the simplest way to fix it. They ask if they can just cross something out or write in the margins. The answer is an emphatic no. Any handwritten change will be invalid and can cast doubt on the entire document.
Legally, there are two ways to alter a will: by executing a “codicil” or by executing an entirely new will. A codicil is a separate document that amends, modifies, or adds to an existing will. While legally valid if executed correctly, I find them to be an outdated tool. In an age of word processors, creating a clean, new document is simple. Codicils create complexity—they are separate papers that can be lost or create ambiguity. A court is forced to read two or more documents together, which can lead to conflicting interpretations.
At our firm, we almost always advise drafting a new will. It is the cleanest and safest approach. A new will contains language that explicitly revokes all prior wills and codicils, leaving a single, authoritative document for your executor and the court to follow. There is no room for confusion.
Crucially, any change must follow the strict legal requirements for executing a will in New York. Under Estates, Powers and Trusts Law § 3-2.1, the new will or codicil must be signed by you in the presence of two witnesses, who must also sign within a 30-day period. Failing to observe these formalities will render the changes invalid.
Your Will Is Not an Island
Finally, your will only controls assets that pass through your probate estate. Many of a person’s most valuable assets are transferred by other means—and these must be updated separately.
I’m referring to assets with beneficiary designations, such as:
- Life insurance policies
- Retirement accounts (IRAs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s)
- Bank and brokerage accounts with “Payable on Death” (POD) or “Transfer on Death” (TOD) designations
These designations are a direct contract with the financial institution. They override whatever your will says. I have seen a case where a man updated his will to leave everything to his children from a second marriage, but he forgot to change the beneficiary on his substantial life insurance policy. Upon his death, the entire policy—the largest asset in his estate—was paid directly to his ex-wife. His will was powerless to stop it. An update to your will must always be accompanied by a thorough review of all your beneficiary designations.
A will should not be a historical artifact. It is the primary tool for the stewardship of your legacy. Keeping it current is an act of responsibility to the people you care about most.
If it has been more than three years since you last reviewed your will, or if you have undergone one of the life changes we have discussed, your plan may no longer serve its purpose. A prudent first step is to schedule a document review. We can sit down with your existing will and map its provisions against your current reality to determine if your legacy is secure.
