Signing a will feels final, but it isn’t. If your circumstances have changed since you last signed, you’re not stuck. The question of whether can I change my will after signing NSW comes up constantly, and the reassuring answer is: yes, almost always. NSW law gives you real flexibility, and understanding your options makes the whole process far less daunting.

Yes, You Can Change Your Will, Here’s What You Need to Know

Under the Succession Act 2006 (NSW), a will can be revoked or amended at any time, provided you have testamentary capacity. There is no lock-in period after signing. Sections 11 to 16 of the Act make this clear. As long as you are of sound mind and understand the nature and effect of your changes, you are free to alter your wishes.

This matters because life moves quickly. Relationships change, assets grow, children arrive, businesses are built. A will you signed five years ago may no longer reflect what you actually want. The law recognises that, and gives you the tools to fix it.

How to Change Your Will in NSW: Your Three Main Options

When it comes to altering a signed will in NSW, you have three practical paths. Which one is right for you depends on how significant the change is and how complex your estate has become.

Option 1: Make a Codicil to Add or Change Specific Wishes

A codicil is a separate legal document that amends specific parts of your existing will without replacing the whole thing. It suits targeted, isolated changes, swapping one executor, adjusting a specific gift, or adding a new beneficiary for a single asset.

Think of it as a formal amendment to your will: it sits alongside your original will, is read together with it, and must meet the same legal formalities. More on those formalities below.

Option 2: Revoke Your Will and Create a New One

For bigger life changes, a new marriage, blended family, major shift in assets, a full revocation and redraft is usually cleaner. When too many codicils stack up, documents become hard to interpret and the risk of contradictions rises. Starting fresh removes ambiguity.

A new will should always include an explicit clause revoking all prior wills and codicils. Without it, an old will might still be considered partially valid, which creates problems for your executor and your beneficiaries.

Option 3: What Not to Do, Altering a Signed Will Directly

Here’s the option you should never take: physically crossing out words, adding handwritten notes, or otherwise marking up a signed will. Under NSW law, alterations made to a will after execution are generally invalid unless they meet the same execution requirements as the original will itself, which they almost never do in practice.

At best, the alteration is ignored. At worst, the changed section becomes unreadable and courts must determine the original intention from surrounding evidence. Don’t risk it. If something needs to change, use a codicil or a new will.

What Is a Codicil in NSW, and When Should You Use One?

A codicil is a formal legal document that modifies, explains, or revokes part of an existing will. In plain terms: it’s a targeted update, not a replacement. If you want to change who gets your grandmother’s ring but leave everything else the same, a codicil is the efficient choice.

Codicils work best for simple, clearly isolated changes. If you need to restructure how your estate is divided, update multiple beneficiaries, or reflect a significant shift in your financial situation, a new will is almost always the better approach.

The Signing and Witness Requirements for a Valid Codicil

A codicil must meet exactly the same execution formalities as a will. That means:

• You (the testator) must sign the document.
• Two independent adult witnesses must be present when you sign.
• Both witnesses must also sign the codicil in your presence.
• Witnesses should not be beneficiaries under the will or codicil.

These requirements are not optional. Consider a realistic scenario: a testator changes one executor in a handwritten codicil but fails to have it signed by two fresh witnesses. That codicil is open to challenge on execution grounds, and in some cases, the dispute can extend to the validity of the original will too. Getting the formalities right protects the integrity of your whole estate plan.

Revoking a Will in NSW: When a Fresh Start Makes More Sense

Some life events don’t just warrant a tweak, they demand a rethink. Under the Succession Act 2006 (NSW) s 12, marriage automatically revokes a prior will unless that will was expressly made in contemplation of the marriage. This catches many people off guard, particularly those who update their will shortly before a wedding without realising the marriage itself will wipe it out.

Divorce works differently but is equally significant. Under NSW law, divorce revokes any gifts and appointments (such as executor roles) made to a former spouse in your will, though it does not revoke the will entirely.

Other common triggers for revoking a will and starting fresh include:

• A new child or grandchild not mentioned in the current will
• Significant changes in assets, selling a business, buying or selling property
• Blended family arrangements that change your priorities
• Deteriorating relationships with named beneficiaries
• Multiple codicils that make the documents hard to follow

When you write a new will, always include the revocation clause. It’s also a good time to review your estate planning checklist for NSW to make sure nothing is overlooked.

Can You Modify a Will After Someone Dies in NSW? Deed of Variation Explained

This is one of the more surprising things NSW law allows: even after the testator has died, beneficiaries can redirect what they inherit, but not by changing the will itself.

What beneficiaries can do is enter into a deed of variation. This is a formal legal agreement between consenting beneficiaries that redirects entitlements to different people or in different proportions. The will is not altered; instead, the beneficiaries agree among themselves how the inherited assets will be distributed.

A common example: an adult child inherits a property outright but wants to pass their share directly to their own children for estate-planning purposes. A deed of variation achieves this without the assets needing to travel through the adult child’s estate first. For the tax implications of selling inherited property in NSW, how a deed of variation is structured can also matter significantly.

For a deed of variation to be valid:

• All affected beneficiaries must consent, you cannot impose it on someone.
• It must be documented correctly and executed as a legal deed.
• Legal advice is strongly recommended, particularly where real estate or significant financial assets are involved.

If you’re also trying to understand what happens to the estate more broadly, it helps to know how the NSW probate process works before a deed of variation is finalised.

A deed of variation is entirely separate from simply being unhappy with what a will says. If you believe you’ve been unfairly left out or inadequately provided for, that’s a family provision claim, a different legal pathway altogether.

When to Update Your Will, and When You Need a Lawyer

Updating your will is the right move whenever your life circumstances shift in a meaningful way. Common triggers include:

• Marriage or de facto relationship, especially given the automatic revocation rules
• Divorce or separation, to prevent an ex-partner from retaining executor powers
• New children or grandchildren, to ensure they are provided for
• Death of a named beneficiary or executor, so your will doesn’t rely on someone who is gone
• Major property or business changes, including buying, selling, or inheriting assets
• Relocation, particularly if assets are held across different states

Review your will every three to five years, and immediately after any significant life event.

When it comes to whether you need a lawyer, the honest answer is: for simple changes to a simple estate, a DIY codicil is legally possible. But the risk of getting execution formalities wrong, or of creating contradictions between documents, is real. If your estate involves property, a business, blended family relationships, or any concern about testamentary capacity, professional advice is not just helpful, it’s protective.

Will Modification Costs NSW: What to Budget For

Costs vary depending on what you need. A simple codicil drafted by a solicitor typically costs less than a full will redraft. A new will for a straightforward estate is generally more affordable than people expect. For a detailed sense of how much it costs to write a will in NSW, the figures depend on complexity, not just document length.

At GKE Lawyers, we review existing wills and advise on the most cost-effective update route, whether that’s a targeted codicil or a clean redraft, under a fixed-fee quote so there are no billing surprises. If you’re also thinking about broader planning, such as what a power of attorney covers in NSW, we can cover that in the same conversation.

If you’ve recently come into an inheritance and are considering your options, understanding what’s involved in selling property you’ve inherited in NSW may also shape how you approach a deed of variation.

Ready to review your will? Contact GKE Lawyers for a fixed-fee consultation. We’ll look at what you have, explain your options in plain English, and help you decide whether a codicil, a new will, or a deed of variation is the right next step, without making the process any harder than it needs to be.