Help Me With Sign Louisiana Banking Last Will And Testament

Estate Planning And Probate I Once Had A 14-year-old Client Whose ... Form

so here's why you should never write changes that you want to make on an existing last will and testament I'm Paul ramble a over the years I've seen a lot of people with bring in their existing wills maybe they were written six months earlier six years earlier 20 years earlier and their circumstances changed and they wanted to make some changes someone might come in and you know they named Joseph as their executor and you know Joseph turned into a bomb so now they want Fred to be the executor so they cross through the provision that says I won't Joseph to be my executor and they write in maybe in pencil or pen you know Fred as the executor or maybe they left a person or an entity or a charity or a church maybe they left that person or entity a hundred thousand dollars and and they just changed their mind maybe they think well I just want that person eighty-five thousand dollars so they cross through on their will the the provision that says one hundred thousand dollars and they write in five thousand dollars so that really causes all kinds of problems the rules make make some sense but you won't get it right unless you really you know understand the rules and work with somebody who can interpret the rules and get it right so I want to focus on the rules that exist particularly for people who live here in Louisiana so you can understand what you're dealing with there's really two rules that apply the first one says that a revocation of a legacy or other testamentary provision provision and will revocation of that provision occurs when the testator the person whose will it is clearly revokes the provision or legacy by a signed writing on the testament itself so they can revoke a provision in a will by clearly revoking the provision or legacy by a signed writing on the testament itself okay so that's how you revoke a provision then there's another rule that says any other modification of a testament must be in one of the forms prescribed for Testaments so the rules are more strict when you're trying to put a replacement provision in there and the rules are relaxed when you're just merely trying to revoke a provision so let's go back to our example for example for example gentleman wants to change his executor in his will from Joseph to Fred josephs now Obama and so he pulls out his will he crosses through Joseph's name and he writes Fred over Joseph and let's say he signs right above where he made that change well so what has he done he has met the provisions for revoking that provision because it's a signed writing on the testament itself he scratched through Joseph he signed it and so Joseph will not be the executor he wrote in Fred as well now is Fred gonna be the executor not necessarily because that's a different modification he wasn't by by writing in Fred he wasn't revoking a provision he was adding a new provision and that must be in one of the forms prescribed for Testaments the only possible form it could be as an Ola graphic will which must be written in his handwriting signed and dated and so this scratched through right in Fred sign it doesn't meet the form for an Ola graphic will so Fred's not gonna be the executor so that's one problem same thing if he crossed through the bequests to an individual or a charity for a hundred thousand dollars on the road in $5,000 if he if he signs on the testament itself that revocation is effective whoever he left a hundred thousand dollars to ain't gonna get that hundred thousand dollars but there are also not going to get the five thousand dollars because the other modification was not done in a form prescribed for Testaments so what does all that mean it means our rules on changing your will we've got rules and there's a reason we have rules and if the rules aren't followed those changes aren't going to be effective and you might say that's not fair you might say eight people saw me do it and I told 12 people that's what I wanted none of that matters if you don't follow the rules that we have then then those things are not going to be effective so really important if you're gonna make a change to your will in particular if you live in Louisiana and want to make a change really need to see an attorney who understands all this stuff and can help you through it and get it right the first time so hope that helps have a great day