Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Washington

Re: add new cd acct number to will

Your will encompasses all your property. Or at least it should. Think about this: if your will described a particular piece of real property which you sold before you died, you could not include it in your estate, it's not yours at that point.

Similarly, property purchased after your will is drafted should be addressed by language that encompasses additional property you don't own now.

But making changes to an instrument after it is witnessed raises some real issues. You could accidentally void the whole thing. Please take it back to whoever prepared it for their opinion.

Hope this helps. Powell

Re: add new cd acct number to will

I guess I would add that TYPICALLY a will should account for all of your assets. However, I'm not sure I agree that it always should. Sometimes there are advantages to passing something outside of your will (e.g., IRA beneficiary designation to take advantage of some recent changes in the tax laws). Having said that, I fully agree that you shouldn't be making changes to your will without witnesses. Holographic Wills are not legal in Washington. I agree that you should have the changes reviewed. Also, you should know that it is possible to leave the CDs to a beneficiary by way of a payable on death account through the bank. But check on the Will first.