Update My Will In Florida

Your Last Will may be one of the most significant legal documents that you may create to specify the things that should happen with your property after your death.  People who die without an existing Last Will and Testament will leave their beneficiaries to get their property based upon Florida's laws of intestacy, rather than your wishes. If you already have a Will, however, you should update it if there are any changes so you can help assure that your beneficiaries know your wishes. Updating your Will in Florida may give you the opportunity to make an advanced planning on the state of your properties.  However, there are also instances when you need to update it.  This article should serve as a guide for people who have a question on ‘how to update my will’ and when you need to update it.

Reasons to Update my Will

A Last Will and Testament that is not updated in order to implement the changes that happened in one’s life can cause countless issues and possibly Florida probate litigation. For example, an old Will could cause children from a first marriage to be left with nothing simply because the wording used was not clear or specific.

Here are some reasons why you may need a Florida attorney to help update your Will:

Update Your Will When You Move to Florida

For people who decided to relocate to Florida, you should consider updating your Will to comply with Florida law. Your old Will may not be necessarily invalid under certain conditions, but each State has its own Probate rules. You also may come into property after moving to Florida which may not have been properly considered in your old Will. You should also be aware that different states have different laws and standards in terms of creating and enforcing Last Will and Testaments.

A Change in Assets

You may consider updating your Will in Florida to reflect any changes that happened in your assets. Your assets should not just be limited to your estate or investment. You can also include jewelry, personal worth, artwork and different real estate properties in your ‘personal’ properties.

A Change in Life

If you were still single when you made your Will, it should be updated once you got married. You should also update it if you had children, or if your children are now all over 18. If you fail to include your spouse in your Will, Florida law may ignore some of your wishes and provide your spouse with certain rights regardless of your wishes. If you get divorced, you may also want to update it as part of or after in a legal dissolution of your marriage. Sometimes you may even be required to give certain property to your former spouse as part of your marital settlement agreement.

Having a new child may also be a need to update your Will, regardless of whether it is an adoption or a child by birth. Depending on the language in your old Will, you may want to change which child gets certain property.

Make sure that it is specific to avoid any issues if you want a certain person or child to get certain property.

South Florida Estate Planning Attorney

Regardless of your situation, you should contact a South Florida estate planning attorney at 800-337-7755 to help update your will.

You also have the option to add a codicil in order to add or change a provision on your Will.  However, there is also a possibility that the codicil may negate a provision written on your last Will. It is often safer to prepare an updated Will which revokes any prior Will you did.

If you need an attorney in Miami to update a Will, or a Weston estate planning attorney to update an old Will, or a Palm Beach estate planning lawyer to fix a Florida Will, or an attorney in Tamarac to fix a Will written in another state, call us today for a free consultation at 954-515-5000 or toll free at 800-337-7755.