Wills - Codicils

Question 1

A codicil is

Answer 1

a supplement or addition to a will that is made after a will is executed. A codicil can explain, modify, amend, or revoke provisions of an existing will. A codicil MUST satisfy the same formalities as a will in order to be valid.

Question 2

At the time a person executes a codicil, the original will is

Answer 2

treated as republished and is deemed to have been executed on the date the codicil is executed.

Republication can cure defects in a will that might affect the validity of specific devises (e.g., in a jurisdiction that prohibits devises to interested witnesses, republication by a codicil that is properly witnessed could save the devise).

However, most courts hold that a codicil
CANNOT republish an invalid will as a whole.

Question 3

In states that recognize holographic wills, a valid holographic codicil

Answer 3

(i.e., handwritten and not witnessed) can validate a will that was not originally valid because it failed to meet statutory requirements.

Question 4

A valid holographic codicil

Answer 4

revokes any earlier valid will to the extent it conflicts with the holographic codicil.