Q: I took my husband’s name when I got married and blended mine and his into a hyphenated name. After the birth of our first child we created a will. Years later, I am still married to the same person, but I have dropped his name and added two more children. Do I need to get my will changed?
A: You have raised three issues that I will address.
You note that you had originally used a hyphenated name, which was a combination of your husband’s name and yours. Sometime later in the marriage, you reverted to just your own surname, which I presume is your birth name.
Read Also
Nutritious pork packed with vitamins, essential minerals
Recipes for pork
Under The Change of Name Act in Saskatchewan, you would be able to revert back to your birth name without being required to file a formal application to do so.
With regard to your will, the change from the hyphenated name to your birth name would not make your will invalid.
It is quite clear who the writer of the will is and any confusion could be eliminated by the filing of an affidavit of identity at the time of your death, in which someone who knew you would simply indicate that the name used in the will was one and the same person as the name you were using at date of death. So that in itself would not necessitate the making of a new will.
Many wills indicate that a parent will leave their estate to “all my children, in equal shares.” That is how I usually draft a will for young parents who are of an age where their family may expand in the future. If yours is like that, it should be fine.
However, if your will named specifically only the child you had at the time and not a general class of your children, you should definitely change your will to include your later-born children.
You have indicated that it has been a long time since you last made a will.
Many people ask how many years should go by before they make a change to their will. It is not the number of years that go by but the change in circumstances.
Changes to your beneficiaries or changes to your assets are the main indicators that a change to a will is necessary. In this case, the most important reason why you may need to update your will is to be sure that all of your children are named as beneficiaries, or that this is covered by referring to them as a group.
While you are making that change, make sure to review your guardian clause, which is the person or persons who would be looking after your children if both you and your husband were to die, and update that clause if necessary.
And while you are making these changes, you can update your name as well.
