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How does marriage affect your Will?

April 13, 2023

When getting married it is important to consider how it will affect your Will, and the distribution of your estate.

Many people wrongly believe that a Will written before marriage will remain valid. This is not the case however, and the marriage will revoke any existing Will, unless specific wording was included in the existing Will.

Many people also wrongly believe, even if they do not have a Will, that their spouse will inherit everything on death. This again is incorrect and in both cases the intestacy rules will apply. The intestacy rules mean that if the deceased spouse has children, the surviving spouse only receives the first £270,000 of the estate and all of the personal possessions. Anything in the estate left over the value of £270,000 will be divided in half, half to the surviving spouse, and half shared between any children. The rules of intestacy only recognise biological or adopted children, so any step children you may have will not be provided for, and any specific wishes you may have will not be adhered to.

How to avoid this.

You can make a new Will after you are married, to reflect your new situation, however this is somewhat risky as it leaves a period of time where there is no valid Will in place.  You can, however, make a new Will in contemplation of the upcoming marriage, and this will mean it remains valid even after the marriage takes place.

Divorce and Remarriage.

Both of these situations can also affect the validity of your Will.

Divorce does not revoke your Will, however, it has the effect of treating your ex-spouse as predeceasing you. This means whatever they were to inherit under the Will, in most cases the whole of the estate, will pass to the next beneficiary named in the Will. If there are no other beneficiaries named, your estate would be divided according to the intestacy rules.

The effect of remarriage is the same and this will revoke any existing Will, unless specific wording has been included in that Will.

Through effective estate planning and reviewing your Will regularly, you can ensure that your estate is distributed according to your wishes. If you would like help making or reviewing your Will please contact our Wills and Probate Solicitors on 0121 705 7571 (Solihull Office) or 0156 477 9393 (Dorridge Office).

Uzma Rasool
Trainee Solicitor – Wills and Probate Department

This article is for general information purposes only. It does not constitute technical, financial, legal advice or any other type of professional advice and is no substitute for specific advice based on your individual circumstances. We do not accept responsibility or liability for any actions taken based on the information in this article. For more information, please click here.