People may wish to update their estate plan due to major life changes (such as marriage, divorce, the birth of a child, or a move to a new province), changes in important roles (like executors, guardians, or beneficiaries), or to fix errors such as misspelled names or outdated contact details. It’s a good idea to review your documents regularly to ensure everything is accurate. For more details, see our guide on when to update a will.
If you want to make changes to your legal documents in Willful, the process is straightforward - but there are a few important things to know before you start. At this time, Willful does not offer codicils (legal amendments to a will). Our documents include a revocation clause, which means that if you create a will on our platform and execute it (properly sign and witness it), it will override any pre-existing wills and/or power of attorney (POA) documents. You can update your Willful documents anytime through your account, but if you make changes, you’ll need to download, print, and sign your updated documents for them to be legally valid.
Steps to update your documents
Step 1: Log into your Willful account
Step 2: Find the section(s) you want to update
Click Menu.
Select Will or Will and POAs to open your document editing page
Scroll to the relevant step and click See more to expand. If you only need to correct small errors, like fixing a spelling mistake in someone’s name, you can do this by managing your contacts directly - see our tutorial on how to manage contacts.
Here’s a quick guide to each section:
About you - General demographic details.
Your family - Marital status, children (and guardians if applicable), and pets.
Your estate - Gifts, donations, beneficiaries, and age milestones for inheritance.
Your arrangements - Executors, funeral and burial wishes, and powers of attorney.
Step 3: Make necessary changes
Click the Edit button next to the part you want to update.
After updating, click Continue to save changes.
Step 4: Finalize the updates
Once all changes are made:
Download your updated documents and take a moment to review them carefully to ensure there are no errors or outdated details before proceeding to signing.
Print and sign them according to your province’s requirements.
Important: Your updated will contains a revocation clause that automatically cancels any previous wills and POAs. This also means you must re-sign your new documents for them to be legally valid.
Differentiating between people with the same name
When naming two people with the same name in your Willful will, clearly distinguish them to avoid confusion. Use their middle names if available. If their middle names are identical or absent, use suffixes like Jr./Sr. or I/II/III.
Adding personal wishes outside your legal documents
If you want to share extra details - such as funeral arrangements or other personal wishes - you can do so in a separate document. Since funeral wishes are not legally binding, you can create this document in any format, store it with your will, and/or share it with family and loved ones so they are aware of your preferences.