Making a last will and testament is important, the importance of which really cannot be overemphasized. With a will there is no possibility of any conflicts over the estate of the deceased person; the last will and testament in Texas is designed to address any and all issues as to how the estate is to be managed and disposed of.
A will is simply an action where an individual is permitted to control, to certain and specific degrees, the disposition of his or her estate upon the individual’s death. The preparation of a will is strictly personal; it cannot be left to the discretion of an attorney or any third person unless the person dies intestate. In such an instance, the estate is disposed of by the court in accordance with the law of the state in which the individual lived.
In most jurisdictions the last will and testament in Texas must be made by a person of least 18 years of age. There are exceptions if the individual is on active service in the military. No matter what, all states require proof that you were of sound mind and body when you instructed the preparation of your will and that you were not being unduly influenced by any other individual.
Once you have completed your will, you are welcome to revisit it as frequently as you like. Your will should be a document which reflects the changes in your circumstances; when you marry or have children, your will should reflect this. You can amend your will by preparing a codicil. When a codicil is taken out, the original last will and testament in Texas remains as is, but as many provisions as you like are changed by the codicil. The codicil is to be treated as the original will; it must be in writing and be witnessed.
You are also free to make an entirely new will; it can be similar to the original with the changes made as wished. Once again, it must be made in the same fashion as the original; in writing, signed by you and witnessed by an independent individual who has no interest in the contents.
When dealing with an attorney in matters affecting your estate, you will probably be asked to simply prepare a new will. Dealing with codicils is a burden that is unnecessary; there is no need to keep the original and all the amendments. A codicil is simply a revision, and it is usually much simpler to revoke your existing will in favor of a new one. Your attorney will be the first to tell you that keeping control of one document is much easier than keeping control of a host of documents.
