How to Update Estate Documents California: 2026 Guide

Short answer: In California you update a will by signing a new will or a codicil with the same formalities as the original (Prob. Code §§88, 6110), and you update a revocable trust by the method the trust itself provides, or by a signed writing delivered to the trustee if the trust doesn’t make its own method exclusive (Prob. Code §§15401, 15402). Beneficiary designations, deeds, and powers of attorney each change on their own paperwork. Review the whole set after a marriage, divorce, birth, death, move, or major change in assets.

People tend to think of an estate plan as one document. It’s several documents, and each changes by its own rules. Some events also change your documents for you, whether or not you touch them, and those automatic changes aren’t always the ones you’d pick.

Document	How it changes
Will	A new will or a codicil, signed with the same formalities as the original (Prob. Code §§ 88 and 6110)
Revocable trust	The method the trust provides, or a signed writing delivered to the trustee if the trust doesn’t make its own method exclusive (Prob. Code §§ 15401 and 15402)
Beneficiary designations	The designation form on the account, not the will
Power of attorney	Tell the agent, then sign a new power of attorney and give notice (Prob. Code § 4153)
Property bought after the trust was signed	Not in the trust unless deeded to the trustee

Law verified against Probate Code §§88, 4053, 4153, 4697, 5040, 6110, 6113, 6120, 6122, 15401, 15402, 21610 and 21620, Family Code §760, and 26 U.S.C. §2010, 2026. This is general information, not legal advice for your situation.

How do I update a will in California?

A codicil is a will for legal purposes (Prob. Code §88), so it has to be signed the same way: in writing, signed by you, and signed by at least two witnesses who were present at the same time and understood it was your will (Prob. Code §6110(a) to (c)). A later will revokes an earlier one to the extent it says so or is inconsistent with it, and you can also revoke a will by destroying it with the intent to revoke (Prob. Code §6120).

Don’t write changes in the margin of a typed will. Handwritten edits on a witnessed will invite a fight over whether they count. If the changes are more than a sentence or two, a new will is cleaner than a codicil. I cover this in more detail in how to change a will in California.

How do I update a living trust?

If your trust is revocable, you can modify it by the same procedure used to revoke it, unless the trust says otherwise (Prob. Code §15402). That procedure is whatever method the trust instrument provides, or a signed writing, other than a will, delivered to the trustee during your lifetime (Prob. Code §15401(a)). If the trust makes its own method exclusive, you must follow it (Prob. Code §15401(a)(2)).

Your agent under a power of attorney can’t modify or revoke your trust unless the trust expressly allows it (Prob. Code §15401(c)). If you’re counting on a child to fix the trust after you lose capacity, check the trust. In a joint trust, each settlor generally can revoke only as to the portion that settlor contributed, unless the trust provides otherwise (Prob. Code §15401(b)).

Small changes go in an amendment. Once a trust has several amendments, a restatement, which replaces the terms while keeping the same trust and the same funded assets, is easier for a successor trustee to follow. Amendment or restatement walks through the choice.

Which life events change my documents automatically?

Divorce. Unless the will says otherwise, a dissolution or annulment revokes gifts to the former spouse and any nomination of the former spouse as executor, trustee, or guardian (Prob. Code §6122(a)). A revocable nonprobate transfer to a former spouse, a category that includes gifts under a trust (Prob. Code §5000(a)), generally fails too (Prob. Code §5040(a)). A former spouse named as your health care agent loses that designation (Prob. Code §4697(a)). A legal separation that doesn’t end the marriage doesn’t trigger any of this (Prob. Code §§6122(d), 5040(a)). These rules are backstops. They don’t rewrite who gets the property next, and they don’t reach every account. Does divorce revoke a will or trust? covers the exceptions.

Marriage. If you marry after signing all your testamentary instruments and don’t provide for your new spouse, the spouse can take your half of the community and quasi-community property plus an intestate share of your separate property, capped at half (Prob. Code §21610). The statute has exceptions, such as when the omission was intentional and that appears in the instruments or the spouse signed a valid waiver (Prob. Code §21611).

A new child. A child born or adopted after you signed all your testamentary instruments, and not provided for, takes the share the child would have received if you’d died without a will (Prob. Code §21620), unless an exception applies, such as an intentional omission shown in the instruments (Prob. Code §21621).

Nothing else revokes a will automatically. Apart from divorce and termination of a domestic partnership, no change of circumstances revokes a will (Prob. Code §6122(e)). A death, a falling out, or a new house changes nothing on paper until you change it.

What should I review?

• Guardian nominations. A parent can nominate a guardian for a minor child (Prob. Code §1500) in a signed writing, usually the will (Prob. Code §1502(a)). Children grow up and nominated guardians age, move, or divorce.
• Successor trustees and executors. Is the person you named still able and willing?
• Beneficiary designations. Retirement accounts and life insurance pass by the designation form, not the will. Which wins, the will or the 401(k)? explains the conflict.
• Powers of attorney. You can revoke an agent’s authority by telling the agent, orally or in writing (Prob. Code §4153(a)(2)), but banks and third parties without notice are protected (Prob. Code §4153(b)). Signing a new power of attorney and giving notice is the practical fix.
• Funding. A house bought after you signed the trust isn’t in it unless it was deeded to the trustee. Is your living trust funded? shows how to check.
• Estate tax. The federal basic exclusion amount is $15,000,000 per person for 2026 (26 U.S.C. §2010(c)(3)). A surviving spouse can use the unused exclusion of the first spouse to die only if the executor files an estate tax return and makes the election (26 U.S.C. §2010(c)(5)(A)). Older trusts written to split at the first death may no longer make sense.

The estate plan review scorecard turns this into a checklist, and updating your estate plan after major life changes goes event by event.

I just moved to California. Is my out-of-state will or trust still valid?

Usually. A will is validly executed in California if it complied with the law of the place where it was signed, or of the place where you were domiciled or lived when you signed it or when you die (Prob. Code §6113). A durable power of attorney signed in another state in compliance with that state’s law is valid here (Prob. Code §4053).

Valid isn’t the same as a good fit. California is a community property state, so property a married person acquires during the marriage while domiciled here is community property unless the law says otherwise (Fam. Code §760). A plan drafted under another state’s system may not account for that. New California property also has to be deeded to the trust, and a financial institution here may be quicker to accept a California-form power of attorney. The impact of California laws on estate planning covers the differences, and California inheritance laws explains how community property changes who gets what.

What are the common mistakes?

Handwritten edits on a typed will. An amendment signed but never delivered to the trustee when the trust requires delivery. A new house left out of the trust. An ex-spouse still named on a life insurance form. A guardian nomination nobody has looked at in twenty years. Reasons trusts fail for California families and common estate planning mistakes go through them, and key estate documents explained lists what a complete plan contains.

How often should I review my plan?

No statute sets a schedule. I suggest a look every few years and after any of the events above. The review itself happens by phone or Zoom, and if new documents are needed, a mobile notary comes to you to sign. If the plan needs a new deed, I record it, and you get a map for updating each account. Start from the estate planning page or the home page to see how the process works.