So you already have a Will, and now something’s changed. Maybe you got married. Maybe there’s a new grandchild. Maybe the person you named to run your estate has passed away, or you’ve simply changed your mind about who gets what. The good news is you probably don’t have to start over from scratch. Sometimes a Codicil will do the job.
But not always — and the “not always” is where we see people get into trouble. Let me explain what a Codicil is, when it’s the right tool, and when you’re better off with a brand-new Will.
What A Codicil Actually Is
A Codicil is an amendment to a Will – a legal document that changes an existing Will without replacing it. Your original Will stays in place, and the Codicil sits alongside it, adjusting a specific part — perhaps the name of a beneficiary, an amount, the person you named as your personal representative (that’s the legal term in Missouri for what most people call an “executor”).
Some folks call it an “addendum” to their Will. In everyday language that’s close enough, but in the eyes of a Missouri court, the document that legally amends a Will is a Codicil. The name matters when it’s time to use it, and provide it to the probate Court, and prove the document is valid.
The key thing to understand: a Codicil isn’t a sticky note or a handwritten change in the margin. Crossing out a line in your Will and initialing it doesn’t work. A Codicil is a formal legal document, and it has to be created and signed with the same care as the original Will.
Codicil Or A New Will — Which One Do You Need?
This is the question that actually matters, and the honest answer is: it depends on how much you’re changing.
A Codicil can make sense for a single, clean change — updating one dollar figure, or swapping one name for another. When the change is small and doesn’t ripple into the rest of the document, a Codicil keeps things simple.
A new Will is usually the smarter move when you’re making several changes at once, or when the change affects other parts of the document. Here’s the problem with stacking up Codicils: every Codicil has to be read together with the original Will, and with every other Codicil you’ve signed. Do that a few times and you end up with a decent sized pile of papers, all signed at different times with different witnesses, and may be a bit confusing – as opposed to one, clean, cohesive Will.
In our experience, the cost difference between a Codicil and simply doing a brand new Will is often small. Sometimes a new Will can actually be cheaper, because we don’t have to spend the time reading your old Will. To do a Codicil, we must read and understand your old Will, prior to making the Codicil.
For this reason, we often do new Wills, as opposed to a Codicil, unless it is a really basic change that is being made. Which one fits your situation is one of the things we’ll generally sort out during our consultation.
What Makes A Codicil Valid In Missouri
A Codicil has to meet the same legal requirements as a Will. In Missouri, that means the document must be signed by you and witnessed by two people, and you must be of sound mind when you sign it — meaning you understand what you own and what the document does.
That sounds straightforward, but we see many mistakes. The requirements that trip people up are the same ones that invalidate homemade Wills: witnesses who aren’t truly independent, signatures in the wrong place, language that’s vague about what’s actually changing, or a Codicil that accidentally conflicts with the Will it’s supposed to amend. A Codicil that lacks a “self-proving affidavit” — a notary provision that lets the document stand on its own later without having to produce the witnesses — can force your family to track down those witnesses years later, in the midst of dealing with a loss.
Any one of those slips can render the Codicil invalid or unprovable. And here’s the hard part of estate planning: mistakes in legal documents usually get discovered after a person’s death, when it’s too late to fix the mistakes.
The Downside Of Codicils Nobody Mentions
Most articles on this topic won’t tell you this, but we will: Codicils have real drawbacks. They create more documents to keep track of, more chances for something to get lost, and more places for language to conflict. A Will and three Codicils is four documents that all have to agree with each other. When they don’t, your family inherits the confusion. For a document whose entire purpose is to make things clearer for the people you leave behind, a stack of Codicils can quietly do the opposite.
That’s not an argument against ever using one. It’s an argument for having someone who does this every day look at what you’re trying to change and tell you honestly whether a Codicil is the right call.
“Can’t I Just Write One Myself?”
Technically, yes. Missouri law doesn’t require you to hire an attorney to amend your Will. However, let us tell you what we regularly see. It is not uncommon to see homemade Wills and Codicils that fail — missing or improper witnesses, ambiguous wording, changes that unintentionally cancel out something else in the Will. The person who wrote it thought it was fine. It wasn’t, and by the time anyone found out, they weren’t around to correct it. Fixing those mistakes in probate routinely costs a family far more than it would have cost to have the document done right the first time.
What you’re actually paying an attorney for isn’t the typing. It’s the judgment — knowing whether a Codicil or a new Will fits your situation, making sure the change does what you intend and nothing you don’t, and making sure the document will hold up when it counts. That’s the part an online template can’t give you.
When It’s Time To Take Another Look
A good rule of thumb is to review your Will every three to five years, and any time a major life event occurs. Common life changes that might require a review of your situation:
- Marriage or divorce — yours, or that of someone named in your will.
- A new child or grandchild you want to include.
- A death — especially a beneficiary or the person you named as personal representative.
- A move to Missouri from another state, since your out-of-state Will may not line up with Missouri law.
- A change of heart about who receives what, or who’s in charge.
If any of those sound familiar, it’s worth a conversation. You can read more about when and how to update your estate plan, or about Missouri Wills in general on our main Will page.
Let’s Figure Out The Right Fix
Whether you need a simple Codicil or a fresh Will, you don’t have to have all the answers before you call. That’s what the consultation is for. We will look at what you’re trying to change, and we’ll give you a quote — no games, no hidden costs, and you’ll be talking to an attorney, not a paralegal.
If you’re in Springfield or anywhere in the great Ozarks region and it’s time to update your Will, call Piatchek Law at 417-882-5858, or reach out through our contact page. Let’s get it done right.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a Codicil need to be notarized in Missouri?
A Codicil doesn’t strictly have to be notarized to be valid, but it is strongly recommended. It should include a self-proving affidavit — a notarized provision signed by you and your witnesses. Without it, your family may have to track down those witnesses to “prove” the Codicil after you’re gone. Skipping the notary is one of those small shortcuts that causes big headaches later.
How much does a Codicil cost?
It depends on what you’re changing. A simple, single change costs less than a full estate plan. If you would like a quote, you are welcome to call us. In many situations, we may be able to do a consultation: we can look at what you need, tell you whether a Codicil or a new Will makes more sense, and give you a straight quote before you owe us anything.
Can you have more than one Codicil?
You can, but you should think twice. Each Codicil has to be read together with your Will and every other Codicil you’ve signed. Two or three deep, and the documents can start to be confusing, or may even contradict each other. At that point, a clean, new Will is almost always the better move.
Can I handwrite a Codicil myself?
It’s legally, theoretically possible in Missouri, but it’s risky, and we don’t recommend it. It would have to be done in just the right manner. Handwritten changes are where we see the most mistakes — improper witnessing, wording that’s unclear, or a change that accidentally undoes something else in the Will . Those errors usually surface after death, when no one can fix them. Before you put pen to paper, it’s worth a quick conversation to make sure the change actually holds up.
Still have a question we didn’t answer here? Call Piatchek Law at 417-882-5858 and just ask for a consultation, or a free quote by phone.
