A codicil is a separate document that amends an existing will without replacing it. The two are read together, and both are needed when your executor applies for probate. The thing most people get wrong is the formality: a codicil must be executed with the same formalities as a will. It is not a note, not an email to your lawyer, and not a change scribbled in the margin.
That means writing, your signature, and two or more witnesses present at the same time who see you sign or acknowledge your signature and then sign in your presence. If you are going to that trouble anyway, the question becomes whether a codicil is worth it at all, or whether you should simply make a new will. In most cases the answer is a new will. The full requirements for writing a will in Singapore apply to both.
What a codicil is, and what it is not
A codicil sits on top of your will. It might say “I revoke clause 4 of my will dated 3 March 2019 and in its place I give…”, leaving everything else untouched. Once executed, your testamentary wishes are contained in two documents rather than one.
What it is not:
- Not an informal amendment. The witnessing requirement is identical to a will’s.
- Not a way to alter the original document. Crossing out and initialling a clause on the will itself is generally ineffective and can damage the will’s appearance of integrity.
- Not a replacement. The will remains the primary document. Lose the codicil and you have a problem; lose the will and the codicil alone may achieve very little.
- Not cheaper by much. A simple new will and a codicil cost broadly similar amounts to prepare properly.
When a codicil makes sense
There is a narrow band of changes where a codicil is genuinely the neat answer: one clean, self-contained amendment to an otherwise sound will.
- Swapping an executor because your original choice has died, moved overseas or no longer wants the role. What an executor takes on is set out in our guide to choosing an executor.
- Adding or removing a modest specific gift (a sum of money, a piece of jewellery, a named item) that does not disturb the rest of the structure.
- Correcting an obvious detail, such as a beneficiary’s changed legal name or a mistyped identification number.
- Appointing or replacing a guardian for children under 21, where nothing else changes.
The common thread is that the change is one thing, it is easy to describe, and it leaves the residuary estate (everything not specifically given away) exactly as it was.
When a new will is the better answer
Redo the whole will if any of the following apply.
- More than one change. Two amendments in one codicil is already less readable than a clean document.
- Anything touching the residuary estate. The residue is the engine of the will. Adjusting shares in it through a codicil is where drafting errors and later disputes concentrate.
- A codicil already exists. Will plus two codicils is a puzzle, not a plan.
- A significant change in circumstances: divorce, a new property, a business, a child, a move overseas.
- You are no longer sure what the will says. If you have to reread it to work out the effect of a change, so will everyone else.
The reason to care is dispute risk. A will read alongside several amending documents gives an unhappy relative material to work with: inconsistencies, ambiguous references, questions about the order of execution, and arguments about capacity at the date of each document. Our guide to contesting a will in Singapore explains the grounds a challenger relies on, and complexity feeds most of them.
| Change you want | Codicil | New will |
|---|---|---|
| Replace one executor | Reasonable | Also fine |
| Add one small cash gift | Reasonable | Also fine |
| Change how the residue is shared | Avoid | Yes |
| Remove a beneficiary entirely | Avoid | Yes |
| Several changes at once | No | Yes |
| A codicil already exists | No | Yes, consolidate everything |
| After a divorce or a remarriage | No | Yes |
Probate consequences: both documents must surface
When your executor applies for a grant of probate, the court needs the original will and every original codicil. A missing codicil is not a minor gap. If it is known to have existed but cannot be found, the executor faces awkward questions about whether it was lost or deliberately destroyed, and may have to make an application supported by evidence to prove its contents.
That is a practical argument against codicils generally: each one doubles the number of pieces of paper that must survive you, be located, and be produced intact. Keep them physically together with the will, and make sure your executor knows both exist. Where they should live is covered in our guide on where to keep your will.
Life events that should trigger a review
Regardless of which route you take, some events make a review non-optional.
- Marriage. Marriage revokes an existing will entirely unless the will was made in contemplation of that particular marriage. This is the single most damaging trap in Singapore estate planning, and it applies just as much to a second marriage. See remarrying after divorce.
- Divorce. Divorce does not revoke a will. Your former spouse can remain your named executor and main beneficiary unless you act. The mechanics of undoing that are in our guide to revoking a will.
- Births. A new child or grandchild, particularly where the will names beneficiaries individually rather than as a class.
- Deaths. A beneficiary or executor dying before you can leave a gift to fail or an appointment empty.
- Property. Buying, selling or decoupling a property, especially where a specific gift refers to a home you no longer own.
- Moving country. Different jurisdictions have different rules on formalities and on who must be provided for.
A useful habit is to reread your will every three to five years even when nothing obvious has happened. Circumstances shift quietly.
The practical recommendation
In most situations, make a fresh will. It costs a little more than a codicil and usually much less than the argument a patchwork of documents produces. A new will opens with an express revocation clause that cancels everything before it, leaving one dated document that says everything you want said: no cross-referencing, no missing pieces, no questions about which version governs.
Reserve codicils for the genuinely simple case: one clean change, no existing codicils, a will you fully understand and are otherwise happy with. Even then, execute it with the same care as the original: two independent witnesses, present together, neither of them a beneficiary or a beneficiary’s spouse, because a gift to a witness or a witness’s spouse fails even though the document itself stands. For how the pieces fit together across wills, probate and estate administration, see our wills and probate guide.
