If a Will has been made part of a trust, can the testator change it?
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If a Will has been made part of a trust, can the testator change it?
In this case, the testator wrote his Will and, unknown to him, it was later incorporated by his adult children in a Trust. This prevents him from changing any part of his Will. This was done without his knowledge to block his new wife from inheriting any part of the estate at his death.
Asked on May 25, 2011 under Estate Planning, Georgia
Answers:
M.T.G., Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
The Testator is going to have to go and seek legal help with all of this. Is the Trust revocable or irrevocable? There are, by the way, ways to circumvent an "irrevocable trust" but if and how depends on state law. In some states you can re-transfer the property to a new Trust created by the testator and that would in essence make the other trust null and void. IF there is not property to fund a trust then, well, what is the point? A Will you can revoke and change at any tie as long as you have testamentary capacity. But the hows of this matter need to be addressed and you can only do that by reading the documents involved. Good luck.
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