Q: My mom’s not going to be here much longer she’s being released to come home under hospice care. I have the will. The house goes to me and my sister but my sister is power of attorney over my mom my mom doesn’t trust her anymore. I my mom able to change anything on the will? (Lawrenceville, PA)

A: To change the content of a will, normally, a new will must be drafted. One cannot simply make changes to a will by writing on it, or crossing things out. Codicil’s (additions or addendums to wills) were used at one time, before the advent of word processing when wills were handwritten or typewritten. Rewriting the entire will to change one thing was unduly time-consuming and burden. However, the legal requirements for a will and a codicil are the same. The codicil must be executed with the same formality as if it was an original will. Thus, in modern times, most people just draft an entire new will. As long as your mother is competent, I would suggest having her make an appointment with a lawyer who can consult with her and draft a legal document that suits her testamentary wishes.