Having your Will updated is just as important as having your Will drafted and signed. I will discuss the following instances where it is important to have your will reviewed or amended.

1. Once a person gets married, it is logical to think that the basic clause of inheritance in the Will be changed, or drafted for the first time to name the surviving spouse as the sole heir of the estate, however if a person gets married IN Community of Property, half of the estates already belongs to the Surviving Spouse, and therefore it is only half of the estate that the Testator/Testatrix may bequeath, unless both parties mass their estates to be distributed to another heir entirely.

2. The above scenario in 1, is not affected if a Will is not in place upon death of the Testator/Testatrix, however should there be children born out of the Marriage, or out of Wedlock, these children inherit together with the surviving Spouse which is sometimes not the ideal route of distribution if the children are Minors, as this removes the control over the assets from the surviving spouse to  trust or Guardian fund, until the heirs have reached maturity,

3. Probably the most important scenario is that when a testator/Testatrix is divorced, he or she has 3 months to amend or redraft his/her Will. In the last mentioned 3 month period the inheritance of the Testator shall be distributed to his Next-of-Kin and not to his/her ex-spouse, however should the three month period expire without having made a further will then the ex-spouse will inherit according to the existing Will. Once a person remarries after a divorce, it may not be the first thought to revise his/her Will, however should he/she die without amending his will, then the ex-spouse will inherit together with the current surviving spouse which can be an absolute disaster.

4. Should it be that a Testator/Testatrix bequeaths his/her estate to their children and there is still a prospect of further children, it is advisable to revise a will regularly to avoid having a child left out of inheritance. To avoid this, one can bequeath in general i.e. “I bequeath to all my children living or unborn. This may seem to solve the problem, however one does not know what the needs of that unborn child will hold in future, therefore it is advisable to revise your will regularly regardless.

5. Having your financial status updated regularly, goes hand in hand with your Will. One might have fixed assets where same is bequeathed to the amount of children of a testator/Testatrix, in equal share, however if the cash flow upon date of death, is not sufficient to settle estate debt and administration cost to transfer these assets to the heirs, this may delay the estate administration and possibly cause friction between heirs as some assets will have to be sold to settle these expenses, resulting that some heir will inherit and some not, or that all fixed assets might have to be sold as the proceeds distributed equally and this action may cause that the value of inheritance is not what it would have been if the fixed assets were transferred rather that liquidized.

6. I refer back to the topic of minor children. When drafting a will it is very important to direct that assets bequeathed to a minor be dealt by i.e. a trust and that this trust must be managed by 2 or more trustees in favour of the minor beneficiaries until they have reached the required age. It is also important to keep in touch with these nominated trustees, as they may also die or the relationship with the Testator/testatrix might deteriorate in time, which will cause that a newly appointed trustee after date of death might not be exempted from having to provide security to be appointed as trustee, which is another unnecessary expense for the trust.

7. Lastly, like the relationship with the trustees it is also important to nominate a guardian for the minor children, which will minimize the trauma of a child having to be in social care, pending a social worker having to find suitable foster parents, however like the situation with the trustees above, It is also important to keep in touch with these nominated guardians as they may also die, or the relationship with the Testator/testatrix might deteriorate in time, which will cause a delay in having a minor child placed in the care of a trusted person.

In conclusion, it is clear that the importance of a will is not to be trifled with, and that a regular update thereof is of the upmost importance. It is therefore recommended that your will is drafted by a professional, i.e. an attorney, accountant or broker, to ensure that the will is valid and legal. These professionals will also keep track of regular updates needed to ensure that your estate is in order when you die.