Updating your will

A will is not a one-time document. Life changes — marriages, divorces, births, deaths, asset changes — and your will should keep up. Trustwise is designed to make updates straightforward.

When should you update your will?

Consider updating your will after any of these events:

• Marriage or divorce — a new spouse may change who you want to inherit; a divorce often revokes gifts to a former spouse by operation of law, but your will should be explicit
• Birth or adoption of a child — add them as a beneficiary and review your guardian nominations
• Death of a beneficiary or executor — add an alternate or choose a replacement
• Significant change in assets — selling a home, receiving an inheritance, or changing your primary accounts
• Moving to a new state — Trustwise generates state-specific documents; if you move to a supported state not covered by your current will, update it
• Change in your relationship with an executor or guardian nominee — if that relationship deteriorates, name someone else

As a general rule, review your will every three to five years even if nothing major has changed.

How to update on Trustwise

1. Log in and go to your Dashboard
2. Select your existing will and click Edit answers
3. Update the answers in any section
4. Download the new PDF

If you have the Updates Plan, you can do this as many times as you need at no additional cost.

Does updating my will void the old one?

Yes. When you create a new signed will, it supersedes all prior wills. Your Trustwise document contains a revocation clause that explicitly states you revoke all prior wills. Once you sign your updated will, your old will is no longer valid.

For this reason, after signing a new will you should destroy the old signed copies (shred them) to avoid confusion, and inform your executor that a new will exists and where to find it.

Do I have to go through the full signing process again?

Yes. Every new version of your will must be signed in front of two witnesses to be valid. There is no shortcut — a will that is changed without proper re-signing is not valid for the changed portions. See the Signing your will article for the full signing steps.

Codicils

A codicil is an amendment to an existing will. Trustwise does not generate codicils — we generate complete replacement wills. This is intentional: a single complete document is cleaner, easier to administer, and less prone to ambiguity than a will plus one or more amendments.

What if I lose access to my Trustwise account?

Contact us through the contact page. We can help you regain access. Your answers are securely stored in our system and tied to your account.