QUESTION

Do the revisions that were done on her own make the will invalid and will she have to have a new will made?

Asked on Jul 22nd, 2015 on Estate Planning - Illinois
More details to this question:
My mom had a will drawn up by a lawyer here back in the late 90's. A few years ago, she made some revisions/notes on the original of the will to change one of the secondary beneficiaries, and initialed them. She did this on her own without a lawyer. Thank you.
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2 ANSWERS

Commercial Attorney serving Chicago, IL at Ashcraft & Ashcraft, Ltd.
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The revisions done on the pages of the Will would have no legal effect to change the Will. All amendments to a Will must be executed and witnessed in the same manner as any new Will. The changes on the face of pages of the original Will could open the Will to a challenge that the Will has been revoked by the creator of the Will. To avoid such a challenge the old Will should be replace by a new Will.
Answered on Jul 27th, 2015 at 10:16 AM

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Those "revisions" are not legally binding. To be binding it has to be witnessed just like the will was. It is not a scratch pad where you can cross off something and simply write something in instead. She should start over with a new will, as it could argued that by crossing off things she revoked the entire will.
Answered on Jul 27th, 2015 at 10:12 AM

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