{"id":11435,"date":"2019-08-13T16:26:01","date_gmt":"2019-08-13T16:26:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/?p=11435"},"modified":"2022-10-07T11:24:48","modified_gmt":"2022-10-07T16:24:48","slug":"how-changing-will-with-codicils-is-bad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wills-trusts\/how-changing-will-with-codicils-is-bad\/","title":{"rendered":"How Changing Your Will With A Codicil Is Bad"},"content":{"rendered":"

How Changing Your Will With A Codicil Is Bad<\/h1>\n

Here is a sad but true tale about a will<\/a> change gone terribly wrong.
\nMary Jane executed her will on February 13, 2017. There was a clause in her will appointing her two daughters, Linda and Julia, as co-executors of her estate.
\nMary Jane died 10 months later.
\nHer daughters duly filed an application to admit her will to probate<\/a>. They requested that the court appoint them the co-executors of her estate.
\nThen along came son Jim Bob bearing a codicil that purported to name him executor. The codicil was signed by mom Mary Jane and dated March 31, 2017.<\/p>\n

What is a Codicil?<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u201cCodicil<\/a>\u201d is a fancy name for a written amendment to a will. It has to be signed with the same formalities as a will to be effective. It is fairly common to use a codicil to change just one or two parts of a previously executed will.
\nIn Jim Bob\u2019s world-view, 6 weeks after signing her will his mom had second thoughts about who should act as the executor of her estate<\/a>. Instead of making a whole new will, she just signed a codicil so that he could serve as executor<\/a>.
\nSisters Linda and Julia were not happy. They challenged the validity of the codicil.<\/p>\n

The courts are really strict about codicils<\/span><\/h2>\n

To be blunt, courts do not like codicils because they alter or revoke parts of the original will. Courts therefore put all sorts of requirements on codicils. One requirement is that a codicil must contain a reference to the prior will that it is changing.
\nMary Jane\u2019s codicil started off as follows: \u201cI, Mary Barber Hargove (also known as Mary Jane Hargrove), a resident of Val Verde County, Texas, do make and publish this the First Codicil to my Last Will and Testament, which was executed in the Summer of 2016\u2026..\u201d
\nTherein lay the first problem for Jim Bob. The only will that anyone could find was dated February 13, 2017, which is a far cry from \u201cthe Summer of 2016.\u201d The Court said it could not simply overlook the date discrepancy. The codicil, in effect, was a change to a non-existent will.<\/p>\n

There was another big problem with the Codicil<\/span><\/h2>\n

In the codicil, Mary Jane stated \u201cLinda Hargrove was named Executor in my Will\u201d but in her 2017 will, Mary Jane had named co-executors. The court did not like that discrepancy, either.
\nIn the end the court tossed the codicil and, with it, Jim Bob\u2019s claim to be appointed executor of his mom\u2019s estate.
\nThere are two take-aways. First, if you want to change your will, do not use a codicil to do so. Just execute a new will.
\nSecond, if you have to use a codicil, make sure it correctly references the will and the sections that are being changed.
\nThere are over 300 cases interpreting Texas Estates Code Section 253.002, a one-sentence statute that sets forth the requirements on how to validly revoke or make changes to a will.<\/p>\n

The process should be simple. It is not.<\/span><\/h3>\n

Virginia Hammerle is a licensed Texas attorney. Her practice includes estate planning<\/a>, litigation<\/a>, guardianship<\/a> and probate law<\/a>. See hammerle.com for her blog and newsletter sign-up. This column does not constitute legal advice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How Changing Your Will With A Codicil Is Bad Here is a sad but true tale about a will change gone terribly wrong. Mary Jane executed her will on February 13, 2017. There was a clause in her will appointing her two daughters, Linda and Julia, as co-executors of her estate. Mary Jane died 10 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":11696,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[28,42],"tags":[82],"class_list":{"0":"post-11435","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-real-estate","8":"category-wills-trusts","9":"tag-wills"},"yoast_head":"\nHow Changing Your Will With A Codicil Is Bad - Hammerle Morris Law Firm<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There are reasons why one shouldn't use Codicils to make changes to a Will. Find out why it is important to make a new Will instead of using a Codicil.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wills-trusts\/how-changing-will-with-codicils-is-bad\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Changing Your Will With A Codicil Is Bad - Hammerle Morris Law Firm\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There are reasons why one shouldn't use Codicils to make changes to a Will. Find out why it is important to make a new Will instead of using a Codicil.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wills-trusts\/how-changing-will-with-codicils-is-bad\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hammerle Morris Law Firm\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-08-13T16:26:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-10-07T16:24:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/10\/8.14-blog.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Virginia Hammerle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Virginia Hammerle\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wills-trusts\\\/how-changing-will-with-codicils-is-bad\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wills-trusts\\\/how-changing-will-with-codicils-is-bad\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Virginia Hammerle\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3a35dce360aad1cd9da53574c3c1a6bd\"},\"headline\":\"How Changing Your Will With A Codicil Is Bad\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-08-13T16:26:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-10-07T16:24:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wills-trusts\\\/how-changing-will-with-codicils-is-bad\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":548,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wills-trusts\\\/how-changing-will-with-codicils-is-bad\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/8.14-blog.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Wills\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Real Estate\",\"Wills & Trusts\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wills-trusts\\\/how-changing-will-with-codicils-is-bad\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wills-trusts\\\/how-changing-will-with-codicils-is-bad\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wills-trusts\\\/how-changing-will-with-codicils-is-bad\\\/\",\"name\":\"How Changing Your Will With A Codicil Is Bad - Hammerle Morris Law Firm\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wills-trusts\\\/how-changing-will-with-codicils-is-bad\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wills-trusts\\\/how-changing-will-with-codicils-is-bad\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/8.14-blog.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-08-13T16:26:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-10-07T16:24:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3a35dce360aad1cd9da53574c3c1a6bd\"},\"description\":\"There are reasons why one shouldn't use Codicils to make changes to a Will. Find out why it is important to make a new Will instead of using a Codicil.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wills-trusts\\\/how-changing-will-with-codicils-is-bad\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wills-trusts\\\/how-changing-will-with-codicils-is-bad\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wills-trusts\\\/how-changing-will-with-codicils-is-bad\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/8.14-blog.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2019\\\/10\\\/8.14-blog.png\",\"width\":800,\"height\":500},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wills-trusts\\\/how-changing-will-with-codicils-is-bad\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How Changing Your Will With A Codicil Is Bad\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/\",\"name\":\"Hammerle Morris Law Firm\",\"description\":\"Legal Talk Texas\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3a35dce360aad1cd9da53574c3c1a6bd\",\"name\":\"Virginia Hammerle\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2020\\\/01\\\/virginia-150x150.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2020\\\/01\\\/virginia-150x150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2020\\\/01\\\/virginia-150x150.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Virginia Hammerle\"},\"description\":\"Virginia Hammerle is a contributing columnist to The Dallas Morning News and writes weekly articles and blogs on legal issues confronting seniors and their families.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/virginiahammerle\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hammerle.com\\\/legaltalk\\\/author\\\/virginia-hammerle\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How Changing Your Will With A Codicil Is Bad - Hammerle Morris Law Firm","description":"There are reasons why one shouldn't use Codicils to make changes to a Will. Find out why it is important to make a new Will instead of using a Codicil.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wills-trusts\/how-changing-will-with-codicils-is-bad\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How Changing Your Will With A Codicil Is Bad - Hammerle Morris Law Firm","og_description":"There are reasons why one shouldn't use Codicils to make changes to a Will. Find out why it is important to make a new Will instead of using a Codicil.","og_url":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wills-trusts\/how-changing-will-with-codicils-is-bad\/","og_site_name":"Hammerle Morris Law Firm","article_published_time":"2019-08-13T16:26:01+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-10-07T16:24:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":500,"url":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/10\/8.14-blog.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Virginia Hammerle","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Virginia Hammerle","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wills-trusts\/how-changing-will-with-codicils-is-bad\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wills-trusts\/how-changing-will-with-codicils-is-bad\/"},"author":{"name":"Virginia Hammerle","@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/#\/schema\/person\/3a35dce360aad1cd9da53574c3c1a6bd"},"headline":"How Changing Your Will With A Codicil Is Bad","datePublished":"2019-08-13T16:26:01+00:00","dateModified":"2022-10-07T16:24:48+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wills-trusts\/how-changing-will-with-codicils-is-bad\/"},"wordCount":548,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wills-trusts\/how-changing-will-with-codicils-is-bad\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/10\/8.14-blog.png","keywords":["Wills"],"articleSection":["Real Estate","Wills & Trusts"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wills-trusts\/how-changing-will-with-codicils-is-bad\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wills-trusts\/how-changing-will-with-codicils-is-bad\/","url":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wills-trusts\/how-changing-will-with-codicils-is-bad\/","name":"How Changing Your Will With A Codicil Is Bad - Hammerle Morris Law Firm","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wills-trusts\/how-changing-will-with-codicils-is-bad\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wills-trusts\/how-changing-will-with-codicils-is-bad\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/10\/8.14-blog.png","datePublished":"2019-08-13T16:26:01+00:00","dateModified":"2022-10-07T16:24:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/#\/schema\/person\/3a35dce360aad1cd9da53574c3c1a6bd"},"description":"There are reasons why one shouldn't use Codicils to make changes to a Will. Find out why it is important to make a new Will instead of using a Codicil.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wills-trusts\/how-changing-will-with-codicils-is-bad\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wills-trusts\/how-changing-will-with-codicils-is-bad\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wills-trusts\/how-changing-will-with-codicils-is-bad\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/10\/8.14-blog.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/10\/8.14-blog.png","width":800,"height":500},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wills-trusts\/how-changing-will-with-codicils-is-bad\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How Changing Your Will With A Codicil Is Bad"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/","name":"Hammerle Morris Law Firm","description":"Legal Talk Texas","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/#\/schema\/person\/3a35dce360aad1cd9da53574c3c1a6bd","name":"Virginia Hammerle","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/01\/virginia-150x150.jpg","url":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/01\/virginia-150x150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/01\/virginia-150x150.jpg","caption":"Virginia Hammerle"},"description":"Virginia Hammerle is a contributing columnist to The Dallas Morning News and writes weekly articles and blogs on legal issues confronting seniors and their families.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/virginiahammerle\/"],"url":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/author\/virginia-hammerle\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11435\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}