Quick answer
Prepare a one-page change brief showing the final divorce date or new marriage, what the current will says, what the testator now intends, which ownership and family facts changed, and which decisions remain open. Add a timeline, current asset-and-debt snapshot, beneficiary and appointment comparison, external-nomination register, urgent health or travel facts, and an index to the key documents.
Key takeaways
- Use the final court dissolution date, not the separation narrative, in the timeline.
- Compare every former-spouse gift and appointment with the intended result.
- Map current legal ownership after settlement transfers and under remarriage.
- List policies, retirement interests, trusts and businesses separately from the will.
- Leave the meeting with a defined scope, missing-item list and signing plan.
How to use this guide
The consultation should belong to the testator. A former or current spouse, adult child or assistant may help gather records, but should not dictate gifts or answer independent-instruction questions. Tell the lawyer before the meeting about capacity, influence, language, mobility or unusual-signing concerns.
1. State the event and required outcome
Open the brief with the verified event: divorce or annulment order granted on a stated date, or marriage or planned remarriage on a stated date. Add the current will date and one sentence describing why it no longer reflects the testator's intentions.
Do not use the consultation to reconstruct years of relationship history unless a fact affects ownership, maintenance, capacity, influence or the intended plan. The lawyer first needs the legal event, operative document and requested result.
2. Create the section 2B timeline
For divorce or annulment, list the final order date, current date, date of the pre-divorce will and any later codicil. Note whether the old will expressly addresses benefit after dissolution. Ask the lawyer to apply section 2B to the actual wording.
Do not describe the three-month rule as a permanent revocation. If the period is current or recently expired, flag it at booking together with health, capacity and travel facts.
3. Compare the old and intended beneficiaries
Build a table with current clause or role, person named, intended new result, substitute and unresolved question. Cover specific gifts, residue, former spouse, current spouse, children, stepchildren the testator intends to include, other dependants and organisations.
Write outcomes in plain language before attempting new clauses. If the testator deliberately wants the former spouse to remain a beneficiary, say so clearly for independent advice. If exclusion is intended, identify settlement, maintenance or contractual questions that may remain.
4. Compare appointments as separate decisions
Review the executor, substitute executor, trustee, guardian and any other fiduciary role. Record whether a former spouse or former in-law remains nominated and whether each proposed replacement is willing, independent and available.
Do not treat removal from a gift as removal from an office. Also do not assume a will can override the parental responsibilities and rights of a living parent or settle a current family-law dispute.
5. Update the ownership map
Use columns for asset, current legal owner, divorce-order or marriage relevance, value estimate, debt and supporting document. Include property, investments, accounts, vehicles, businesses, trust loan accounts, valuable movables and foreign assets.
Highlight transfers ordered but not completed and items whose ownership is disputed. A will should not gift an asset based on the settlement's intended future result when the present legal position is unresolved.
6. Record the current marriage framework
For remarriage, summarise the marriage date, matrimonial-property regime, antenuptial contract and any advice still needed. Identify jointly owned or joint-estate assets separately from property believed to be separate.
Do not ask the wills practitioner to infer the regime from household practice. Bring the authoritative marriage and property documents and flag any discrepancy with the ownership records.
7. List arrangements outside the will
Prepare a register of policies, retirement and employment death benefits, account nominations, trusts, shareholder or partnership agreements and buy-and-sell arrangements. For each, show the current nominee or rule, last confirmation and intended review action.
Ask which provider or specialist must implement the update. The will meeting should coordinate these tasks, not pretend one replacement document controls all of them.
8. Identify minor, dependant and liquidity issues
Summarise children, vulnerable beneficiaries, support obligations and anyone who depends materially on the testator. Add expected debt, guarantees, tax and estate costs that may affect cash flow.
Explain the desired protection rather than prescribing an untested trust or exclusion clause. The adviser can compare lawful structures and identify tax, financial or family-law input.
9. Flag specialist and urgent facts
At booking, disclose trusts, businesses, foreign property or residence, pending transfers, active disputes, serious illness, medication, cognitive change, influence concerns, disability, language needs and inability to sign normally. Provide verified dates.
This lets the firm assign the right professional and arrange independent instructions, interpretation, a Commissioner of Oaths or other safeguards. Do not wait until the signing appointment to reveal a process constraint.
10. Bring an indexed, proportionate document pack
Take complete copies of the current will and codicils, final order and settlement, new marriage and antenuptial records, key ownership documents, nomination confirmations, trust or business instruments and the private family schedule. Preserve originals unless requested for inspection.
Use an index linking each document to a question. Avoid sending passwords, unnecessary health material or third-party private records through unverified channels.
11. Prepare mandate questions
Ask what the will update includes, which separate legal services are required, who will draft and review, how revisions are handled, what the timing assumptions are, who arranges witnesses, where the original will be stored and whether executor nomination is tied to the service.
Request the first concrete deliverable and responsible person. It may be a replacement draft, open-issue note, family-law referral, ownership verification task, nomination checklist or cross-border opinion.
12. Define completion
Completion means the testator has approved a verified plan, the replacement will has been executed correctly, earlier originals are handled under advice, the new original is safely retrievable, and external nominations or related instruments have their own follow-up tasks.
A consultation is successful when it produces this controlled route, even if complex specialist work remains. It need not force every issue into an immediate signature.
This article provides general South African preparation guidance. It cannot determine section 2B, ownership, claims, capacity or the correct clauses for a particular person.
Additional FAQ
Should I list gifts and appointments that still mention my former spouse?
Yes. Identify every bequest, residue share, executor or trustee nomination and substitute arrangement involving the former spouse. The review should distinguish the temporary statutory divorce rule from the wording that may operate later if the will remains unchanged.
FAQs
What should my one-page update brief compare?
Compare the old will with the intended result for former and current spouses, children, dependants, gifts, residue, executor, trustees, guardians, external nominations and original custody. Mark each change as decided or still open.
Should I bring the full divorce settlement?
Bring the final order and incorporated settlement, plus evidence of material transfers or obligations affecting ownership. The adviser can decide which provisions require detailed family-law review.
May my new spouse give the instructions?
No. The testator must make independent decisions. A spouse may assist with shared records or logistics where appropriate, but the practitioner may need a private meeting to protect confidentiality and independence.
Should I list gifts and appointments that still mention my former spouse?
Yes. Identify every bequest, residue share, executor or trustee nomination and substitute arrangement involving the former spouse. The review should distinguish the temporary statutory divorce rule from the wording that may operate later if the will remains unchanged.
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Legal note
This article is general legal information for South African readers. It is not legal advice. Speak to a qualified legal professional about your specific facts before taking action.