Writing & Updating your Will

Your estate plan is a fundamental component of your overall personal financial plan which is a living document. This means that it will need periodic adjustments as your circumstances, both personal and financial, go through changes. Your Will is also a living document which should be updated on a regular basis, but a well-constructed Will should not require amendments and adjustments as often as your financial plan. Once you have a Will you can revise or rewrite it at any time. It is critical to develop a well thought out Will that addresses the many changes with which life presents us.

Most people review their Will every few years, or after a change in personal circumstances such as marriage, parenthood, change in marital status, grandchildren and acquisition or sale of major assets, in order to assess whether the instructions in their Will need to be updated. It is also important to consider changes to legislation – in British Columbia a new law called the Wills, Estates and Succession Act changed rules concerning Wills and Estates for deaths occurring after March 31, 2014.