When to Update Your Will

A will reflects your life on the day you signed it. Lives change; unreviewed wills quietly fall out of date. (Keeping the document current.)

A will is a snapshot of your wishes at one moment. The danger is treating it as permanent and never looking again. Several life events should trigger a review, and one of them can undo the will without you realising.

Marriage. In Singapore, marrying generally revokes an earlier will (unless that will was made expressly in contemplation of the marriage). Many people do not know this. The result: a newly-wed who relied on an old will may, in law, have no will at all — and fall under the intestacy rules instead.

Divorce. A divorce does not automatically rewrite your will. An ex-spouse named in an old will could still inherit unless you update it. After a separation, revisiting the will is essential.

Children. A new child should prompt a review — both to provide for them and to name or update a guardian.

Major assets. Buying a home, selling a business, or a large change in wealth can make old gifts lopsided or obsolete.

Deaths. If an executor, guardian or beneficiary dies, the will needs fresh backups.

A sensible habit is to read your will every three to five years even when nothing dramatic has happened, and promptly after any of the events above. Updating is done either by a properly executed codicil (a formal amendment) or, more cleanly for anything substantial, by a new will that revokes the old one.

Illustrative example: the life events that should trigger a review

The chart lays out the main triggers — marriage, divorce, a new child, a major asset, a death among those named — and flags marriage as the one that can revoke an existing will outright. Treat the list as a maintenance schedule, not a one-time task.