How to Revoke Your Will
A few years ago, between the era of ostensibly harmless Tik Tok dances and the era of truly horrifying AI slop, the kids were into a trend called the Great Resignation. They would quit their jobs without a plan for where to go next. It was a case of, “I don’t know where I’m going, but I can’t stay here.” Outwardly, they said that work should not define you, and since they don’t have enough money for necessities at their current job, being unemployed and not having enough money for necessities couldn’t possibly be worse. It didn’t sound right to you, so you stayed at your job. As everyone else floundered, you pressed forward, showing the world that you are made of sterner stuff. It is true that your measly paycheck does not cover as many expenses as it used to, but your retirement savings keep building up, and so does your home equity. In fact, you are such an old school adult that, while your peers were posting about their Great Resignation, you wrote your will. Not only are you mature enough not to follow trends, but you are also mature enough to know that one day your soul will resign from your meat sack. You don’t regret writing your will, but you have changed your mind about some of its provisions; there are new beneficiaries to whom you want to leave a share of your estate. How do you get rid of your old will? For help revoking an outdated will to make room for a new one, contact a Washington, D.C. estate planning lawyer.
Writing a New Will Is the Path of Least Resistance
Maryland law makes it easy to revoke your old will. As soon as you draft and formalize a new will, it renders your old one invalid; to formalize your will, you must sign it in the presence of two witnesses, and the witnesses must also sign it. If you only want to change parts of your will, you can write a codicil and formalize it the way you would formalize an entire new will. If any parts of the codicil conflict with the original will, the codicil prevails.
If you aren’t ready to write a new will, but you would rather have the laws of intestate succession govern your estate than your old will, you can revoke it by crossing it out and writing that it is invalid. You can also physically destroy the will. Of course, this leaves room for ambiguities and misunderstandings. How will the probate court know that you were the one who crossed out your will? Witnesses might have to testify for or against that interpretation. Likewise, a will that was accidentally damaged can look a lot like one that the testator intentionally defaced.
Contact Tobin O’Connor Concino P.C. About Changes to Your Estate Plan
A Washington, D.C. estate planning attorney can help you if you have changed your mind about what you originally wrote in your will . Contact Tobin O’Connor Concino P.C. in Washington, D.C. or call 202-362-5900.
Source:
findlaw.com/estate/wills/how-to-revoke-a-will.html#:~:text=Revoking%20a%20will%20is%20a,ways%20to%20revoke%20your%20will.
