Have existing will(15 years old).Need to amend the share % between 4 siblings....can I....

Bill85

With the old solicitors will before me I have penciled in four small changes to the original shares.
A new company now occupies the original building and they insist a new will should be drawn up....
and paid for.
Question.  I am now minded to type out the original will word for word, and make these small adjustments myself,stating this will revokes all others . Get it properly  signed and witnessed.Throw away the original and get on with my life. Any comments I would be glad to hear.
PS. The more astute of you probably guessed the new solicitors ticked me off with their general attitude.      
 

Emmia

Bill85 said:

With the old solicitors will before me I have penciled in four small changes to the original shares.
A new company now occupies the original building and they insist a new will should be drawn up....
and paid for.
Question.  I am now minded to type out the original will word for word, and make these small adjustments myself,stating this will revokes all others . Get it properly  signed and witnessed.Throw away the original and get on with my life. Any comments I would be glad to hear.
PS. The more astute of you probably guessed the new solicitors ticked me off with their general attitude.      
 

What were you expecting the solicitors to say? Changes to your will really need to be done as a new will...

Personally I'd find another firm of solicitors, and would re-do it that way but there's nothing stopping you carefully retyping it and getting it re-witnessed. If you don't use a solicitor (who would normally store the will) you should instead register it with the central gov.uk service provided by HMCTS

If you just keep a copy at home and that gets mislaid your previous will might be thought of as your "latest will".

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/store-a-will-with-the-probate-service - it's a cost of £20 for wills and codicils provided in a single envelope.

SiliconChip

It might help if you explain what it is that you're leaving in the Will. At a guess, you own a commercial building (either in full or in part) and you have specified in your Will that on your death it goes to your siblings in various proportions. A new tenant or part owner now occupies the building. What I don't understand is how it is any business of theirs who you want to leave your estate to and in what proportions? If you don't want to change the percentages in the existing Will then don't.

Emmia

SiliconChip said:

It might help if you explain what it is that you're leaving in the Will. At a guess, you own a commercial building (either in full or in part) and you have specified in your Will that on your death it goes to your siblings in various proportions. A new tenant or part owner now occupies the building. What I don't understand is how it is any business of theirs who you want to leave your estate to and in what proportions? If you don't want to change the percentages in the existing Will then don't.

I presumed from the OPs post that solicitors firm A that drafted the original/current will had since been taken over by solicitors firm B which the OP approached for the 'amendments' and that the two firms operate at the same address...

km1500

rather than retype it scan it in as a PDF and then upload it to an OCR website

Keep_pedalling

15 years is a long time, and lot has changed in that period so a new will is in order but I would not risk DIYing it if property is involved.

Marcon

Bill85 said:

With the old solicitors will before me I have penciled in four small changes to the original shares.
A new company now occupies the original building and they insist a new will should be drawn up....
and paid for.
Question.  I am now minded to type out the original will word for word, and make these small adjustments myself,stating this will revokes all others . Get it properly  signed and witnessed.Throw away the original and get on with my life. Any comments I would be glad to hear.
PS. The more astute of you probably guessed the new solicitors ticked me off with their general attitude.      
 

If the will is 15 years old it might benefit from other updates, so the suggestion is a good one - just a pity they riled you so much! Don't let that deter you from getting the job done properly; DIY is rarely a good idea when it comes to wills...

Emmia

km1500 said:

rather than retype it scan it in as a PDF and then upload it to an OCR website

And then go back through it to correct the errors!

pjs493

Look into using the National Free Wills Network, especially if you plan on leaving even a small charitable donation. If your will is simple and straightforward, the cost will be covered by the NFWN. If it’s a little more complex they will cover the cost of a simple Will and you can pay the difference. They’ll send you a list of solicitors in your area that are part of the Network and you can choose which one to go for. Some may change a small fee to store your Will or ID checks. 

The first time I used the service I paid £10 for storage and registration of my Will. Following the death of my husband I’m using it again and had to pay £18 for an app based ID check and verification. Much cheaper than spending a few hundred pounds. 

Bill85

I perhaps did not make myself clear.But I did welcome all feedback.Thank you.
The property and my main estate is the house I live in.Has been for over 25 years...A will was drafted 15 years ago leaving all to my two sons and two grandchildren. In equal shares.I now want to slightly alter the amount of shares due to circumstances.All parties are happy with it. No one will be dis inherited. Same names in the will.They still even live at the same addresses.Same executer.
As to re writing a new will... Had I died last week the old will would have been good enough and valid.I cant see in this particular instance a brand new will would be any more legal than the one it replaces.....Which is why I am considering having it carefully typed up with the small changes made myself. Any other issues yes of course I would get an updated will. 
I come from an engineering background and could never expect a client to pay for a new unit when a small correction was enough. As indeed with most other industries......well maybe not banks,insurance etc.

RAS

What none of us can tell is if your current will is bomb proof, makes the decisions you want if some or all of your intended beneficiaries die before you, etc. Or even deals with the possible eventualities.