Changing my will. How do I do it?

[MrsExpo]

DH and I made mirror wills a few years ago. However, as is the way with life, things have changed a bit, and I now want to remove a beneficiary and add a couple of others. How do I do this? The Will was made through our bank (Nat West) and they have the original documents on file. Thanks for any help.

You can't change a Will, you can draw up a new one or add a codicil to the existing one. You will need two witnesses to sign it, call the bank and ask if they will do this for you. You could do it through s solicitor but you don't have to. Can you remember who witnessed the original Will, maybe they could help you again.

Mumsnetter @mumblechum0 did mirror wills for DH and I when we needed to change the executors from my sister and BIL to DS & DD now they are adults.
Once it was done, we contacted the solicitor who had made & kept our old will (in the town where DH grew up)and asked for it back - we were asked to send proof of id, actually in the end we collected it in person, when we were on a visit there.

Thanks for the shout out Rusty Bear 🐻

I'm not advertising on MN for a month or two, but if you'd like to get in touch. OP, feel free to PM me 😊

You can register a copy of your new will at the probate office where it is kept on file. The more recent date on it will make it supersede the old one. Make sure you get a lawyer or whoever writes it for you to specifically put in the new one that it replaces and revokes the old one dated whichever date it says on it. Also get in touch with Nat West and tell them the one they have is out of date and to remove it from their records (and to hold a copy of your new one instead if they will do this)

You can register a copy of your new will at the probate office where it is kept on file

I haven't got a clue where you got this from.

There is no "probate office". There is no central repository for people's wills. I suspect you've got confused with the Probate Registry, which is a part of the Court Service, and which retains copies of all wills filed for probate after someone has died.

There is no central place where copies of wills are stored for the future.

Thanks all. I’ll get onto it. Thanks also to @mumblechum0 for the offer. I’ll have a word with DH and get it sorted - it’s clearly a bit more complicated than I thought. The original was witnessed by out NDNs who still live next door, so we could ask them again.

If the banks are also the executors of the will be aware that they can charge huge huge fees often a percentage of the estate and a admin fee
In the small print they often reserve the right to be the executor
A few years ago NatWest charged a friend family 1500 admin fee plus 2.5 percent of the estate so it was roughly about 7k plus vat

It would be worth looking at how much they will charge

If Nat West are the Executors they will be charging through the nose to administer the estate, it's typically a percentage of the value. It's far better to appoint siblings, close friends or (adult) children.

I think a pp may be referring to the Probate Registry's storage service, which is good value for money.

So far as witnesses are concerned, so long as they aren't beneficiaries, almost anyone will do; neighbours, friends and colleagues are all fine.

Take a look at www.marlowwills.co.uk for further info