How to deal with a codicil

Does anyone know .if you add a codicil to a will. does it have to be witnessed ?

Or can it just be attached to the original will?

Executed in the same way as the will for obvious reasons. If you dont know what you are doing then you should get a professional to do it as the risk of making a mistake isnt worth the risk.

When making a codicil, the same rules apply as for making a Will, that is:

The testator (the person making the codicil) must be 18 years old and of sound mind.

The codicil must be signed and dated in the presence of two witnesses. These witnesses do not need to be the same people who witnessed the signing of the original Will.

A witness must have no interest in the inheritance from the Will or codicil and must not be receiving anything from the testator.

Just being pedantic ... a person named as a beneficiary may witness a will, but once having witnessed, can no longer be a beneficiary upon execution.

Yes but then you are raising an option, which will provide an unsatisfactory outcome, so is pretty pointless.

As it happens....I witnessed a will yesterday for a neighbour.

I didn't read the contents, as it's none of my business. I'm also not a beneficiary.

The neighbour signed the will in my presence.

I signed.

And the neighbours solicitor signed.

I assumed my signature confirms I witnessed the signing by the neighbour.....not that I had read, understood, and agreed.

I assumed my signature confirms I witnessed the signing by the neighbour.....not that I had read, understood, and agreed.

Correct. As you say there is no need to read the will at all just to witness the signature.

Wherever possible, it is much better to write a new will.

Be very wary....having lost a bequest because an executor was told they didn't have to legally honour the wishes of the deceased expressed clearly in a signed and dated attachment to a will I would strongly urge you to get full legal advice on this one. In my case, the wishes of an elderly uncle were disregarded totally by the executor of the will. To make matters worse, the person in question actually told me that the instruction had been written - but that he had been told it wasn't legally binding. It would have been far better (and infinitely more sensitive) to have said nothing and just disregarded the wishes of the deceased, rather than saying in effect " he wanted you to have his collection of pot dogs but I've decided not to let you have it because I don't have to, so I'm keeping it" . The poor old lad would have been really upset that his wishes hadn't been carried out, but there you go........

Wherever possible, it is much better to write a new will.

If the codicil is done properly and the changes are minor, then they are perfectly fine, especially of the change is minor. As I said at the start if the OP doesnt know what they are doing, then they should get a lawyer to draw it up for them and they cna provide the options having seen the original will and listened to the client.

No.

Wherever possible, it is better to write a new will.

Original wills will have no reference to a specific codicil and codicils can go astray.

9 times out of 10 everything will be just fine, but, as I say, "it is better ....".

I read the thread title as how to deal with a crocodile at first.

No.

Wherever possible, it is better to write a new will.

 

Original wills will have no reference to a specific codicil and codicils can go astray.

 

9 times out of 10 everything will be just fine, but, as I say, "it is better ....".

As I said if its executed properly then theres no reason it will be just as effective. There is no reason to say that a coducil attached to a will, will be any more prome to loss than losing a will by itself or pages from that will. If the OP doesnt know what they are doing then they should go and see a lawyer to sort it out for them , who can provide the options and costs based on what the client requires.