Effects of changes in life circumstances on the WILL

We recommend that you consider changing your Will if your life circumstances change. It is
advisable to review your Will periodically, to ensure that it still reflects your wishes. It may
be necessary to change your last Will if any of the following occur as it may have legal
implications and affect validity of your Will:
Divorce or separation, remarrying or entering into a defacto relationship
Birth of children or grandchildren
Death of your beneficiaries
A significant change in your financial circumstances
Adoption of children
To add or change guardians for children
A significant change in ta laws
A desire to add beneficiaries
A desire to change beneficiaries
The death or incapacity of a named eecutor or trustee
To change personal details li!e address changes for you or someone mentioned in the
will
"lease be aware that divorce cancels any provision in favour of the former spouse, but
otherwise does not revo!e the Will. It also cancels your spouse#s appointment as eecutor,
trustee or guardian in the Will, but it does not cancel an appointment of a former spouse as
trustee of property left on trust for beneficiaries that include children of both you and the
former spouse. This does not apply if the $ourt is satisfied that the Will%ma!er did not intend
by divorce to revo!e the gift or appointment.
&ffect of a new marriage on a pre%eisting will is such that any eisting will is automatically
revo!ed, and no longer applies unless the will is made such to be 'in anticipation of
marriage(. )our Wll is not 'in anticipation of marriage( will.
Revocation of a Will
)our Will can be revo!ed by operation of the law, or by yourself providing that you revo!e it
in accordance with relevant provisions of section *+ of the Wills Act 1997, which applies
regardless of when the Will was made, and can be effected by the ma!ing of a later Will or .
,ther ways in which a Will can be revo!ed other than by ma!ing a later Will as
defined in subsection *+-+.. They are:
by marriage
by divorce
by any order made by the $ourt under this Act authorising the revocation of
Will
by any order made by the $ourt under this Act dispensing with the formal
re/uirements for revo!ing a Will
by some writing, declaring an intention to revo!e it, eecuted in the manner in
which a Will is re/uired to be eecuted by this Act
by you, or some person in your presence and at your direction:
directed by you, by burning, tearing or otherwise destroying the Will
with the intention of revo!ing it
by writing on the Will or dealing with the Will in such a manner that
the $ourt is satisfied, from the state of the Will, that you intended to
revo!e it- i.e. uniting words such as 'cancelled( or 'revo!ed( on the
Will.
If you revo!e your Will by ma!ing a new one please not t0hat a will is revo!ed by a later will
only to the etent that new provisions are inconsistent with it. To avoid compleity of
administration and possible confusion it is wise to state that your new will revo!es all earlier
ones.
If you wish to destroy your old will, do so in circumstances that ma!e it very clear that you
intend to revo!e it and are not destroying it accidentally.
Altering your Will
)ou must not alter your eisting 1ast Will in any way after due eecution. It may invalidate
your Will and intestate provisions would apply. )ou must not:
cross portions out
add other words or bloc!s of tet
attach etra pages with pins, staples or clips.
If you need to change anything in your Will, in order to avoid ris! of and conse/uences of
intestacy, we recommend that you prepare a new 1ast Will in which you revo!e all earlier
ones, and then destroy the old one.
2owever legislation allows alternations providing that they are affected in prescribed way
-must complies with the formalities re/uired by section 3 and subsection *4-*... This does
not apply to an alteration to a Will if the words or effect of the Will are no longer apparent
because of the alteration -5ub s. *4-+...
5ubsection *4-6. states that the formalities are satisfied if the signature of the testator and
witnesses to the alteration are made:
-a. 7 in the margin, or some other part of the Will beside, near or otherwise relating to the
alteration8 or
-b. as authentication of a memorandum referring to the alteration and written on the
Will7.
"lease note that revo!ed wills can be revived by the re%eecution or by the eecution of a
codicil which shows an intention to revive the Will or part of it7, -5ub s.*9-*...
5hould any such need arise, we recommend that you see! independent legal advice in order
to avoid ris!s of intestacy and to ma!e sure it represents your final wishes.
Safe Keeping of the Will
We advise that the eecuted Will should be !ept in a safe place, where it can be located by the
&ecutor:s. We recommend that you either maintain a ban! safe custody pac!et or bo to
!eep your Will, or to leave the Will with us for safe !eeping as we have in place a safe
custody systems and recording, both for entering documents and obtaining receipts for
documents.
5hould you choose to ta!e the eecuted will with you we need you to sign the receipt and we
advise that we retain a photocopy of the eecuted will in the file.
5hould you choose to leave the Will with us, it will be entered into our safe custody system
-Wills ;egister. and you will be provided with a photocopy of the eecuted Will. We also
!eep another copy of the Will in your file.
Power of Attorney
)ou may consider ma!ing a general power of attorney in which you give another person
control of some or all of your affairs. )ou may choose to impose restrictions on what they can
or cannot do. )ou are bound with their decisions providing that they acted within granted
powers. A general power of attorney ceases to have effect after you lose the capacity. In
contrast, an enduring power of attorney will continue even after you lose capacity.
If you ma!ing an enduring power of attorney which allows you to choose who you want to
manage your affairs should you lose the mental capacity to do this for yourself, or get
somehow incapacitated in other ways -head in<ury, coma, stro!e, etc.. &nduring "ower of
Attorney at any time, in preparation for the future, should you ever loose mental capacity.