Does divorce revoke your Will?

Divorce has implications for many different parts of your life, including marital finances and assets, private pension savings and the residency of any children under the age of 18.

One common question we are asked is: “Does divorce revoke your Will?” The simple answer is no, but the full explanation of how divorce affects your Will is more complex.

This is because, unless your Will expressly states otherwise, your spouse is automatically removed from it when you divorce.

Any other terms remain in place – so the Will overall is still valid – but to all intents and purposes, the parts that apply to your ex-spouse are interpreted as if they were dead.

What does this mean?

Directly removing your former spouse from your Will is likely to have several immediate effects:

• Your ex cannot act as an Executor or Trustee under your Will
• Unless stated otherwise, they will no longer receive any inheritance
• Their inheritance passes to the next entitled beneficiary

In extreme cases, if your Will leaves everything to your spouse and you later divorce, then your Will is no longer valid at all. If you die without updating it, your estate will be dealt with according to the intestacy rules instead.

For all these reasons, it’s sensible to consider updating your Will as a routine part of getting divorced, and this is something to discuss during financial mediation.

What about separation?

The above assumes that you are married or in a civil partnership with an Executor, Trustee or beneficiary of your Will and that you complete the legal process of divorce or dissolution.

In contrast, there should be no immediate impact on your Will if:

• You separate from a partner to whom you were not married or in a civil partnership
• You separate from a married partner but do not complete a formal legal divorce

It’s quite easy to see that neither of those circumstances represents a material change in your legal status.

Again, if you are separating from a long-term partner and do not want to them remain a beneficiary of your Will, it’s important to update your Will to reflect your new wishes.

What about divorced beneficiaries?

The marital status of your beneficiaries should not normally have a direct effect on the validity of your Will; it’s really only your own marital status that matters.

For example, if you have children who have grown up and got married, you might leave an inheritance to your children-in-law too. In the event that your son or daughter gets divorced, their ex-spouse would normally still be entitled to their part of the inheritance.

While this means your Will is unlikely to be affected by events beyond your own control, it’s another example of when you might want to update your Will to reflect changes in your extended family circumstances.

If you would like to find out more about financial mediation during divorce, civil partnership dissolution, or even as an option when separating from an unmarried long-term partner, please contact Marcia Mediation today.