Will Changing 17 January at 3:38PM in Deaths, funerals & probate 8 replies 356 views

MaryJahn

My husband made a will when he joined the Army.  Now coming up to near retirement age and due to changes in circumstances he needs to cancel it and make a new one.  Can you please advise how he would do this.

user1977

In the same way as anybody else would make a Will (how did he make the previous one?) - preferably contact a solicitor who does Wills and take it from there.

msb1234

You dont actually cancel a will as such. You write a new one and generally the opening sentence states that this will supersedes any previous will.

Mojisola

msb1234 said:

You dont actually cancel a will as such. You write a new one and generally the opening sentence states that this will supersedes any previous will.

But it's still best to destroy the old will so that there's no confusion in the future.

If you married after he made the first will, that will won't be valid any more unless it was written 'in anticipation of marriage to ...'

Keep_pedalling

He should make an appointment with a local solicitor to draw up his will. You don’t mention your own will but if you don’t have one or have a very old one get yours sorted as well.

Do you have lasting powers of attorney in place? If not you need to sort those as well although you can DIY those.

msb1234

Mojisola said:

msb1234 said:

You dont actually cancel a will as such. You write a new one and generally the opening sentence states that this will supersedes any previous will.

But it's still best to destroy the old will so that there's no confusion in the future.

If you married after he made the first will, that will won't be valid any more unless it was written 'in anticipation of marriage to ...'

True - destroy the old one AFTER you’ve written the new one!

Marcon

There's a fair amount of help for military personnel - e.g. https://forcesfamilyfinance.co.uk/making-will-guidance-military-personnel/

user1977

Marcon said:

There's a fair amount of help for military personnel - e.g. https://forcesfamilyfinance.co.uk/making-will-guidance-military-personnel/

Yes, I would expect (given the nature of the job) they have Wills suggested to them when they sign up, so presumably they can get similar help for later amendments.

Marcon

user1977 said:

Marcon said:

There's a fair amount of help for military personnel - e.g. https://forcesfamilyfinance.co.uk/making-will-guidance-military-personnel/

Yes, I would expect (given the nature of the job) they have Wills suggested to them when they sign up, so presumably they can get similar help for later amendments.

Quite. The Army Welfare Service should be able to point OP in the right direction for assistance: https://www.army.mod.uk/people/health-wellbeing-welfare-support/welfare-support/the-army-welfare-service-aws/