Does Marriage or Divorce affect my will?
In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, your Will is cancelled automatically if you get married or enter into a civil partnership after you have signed it unless the Will contains a sentence stating otherwise.
If you are divorced or your civil partnership is annulled after you have made a will, any gifts in favour of your former wife, husband or partner will be effectively cancelled unless the Will states otherwise and therefore your Will would be read as if they had already died.
It is essential that you consider writing a new Will if there are major changes to your circumstances.
However, there are some that think the general understanding above lets them off rewriting a will but this should not be the position held. Write a new will… why?
Under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependents) Act 1975 a former spouse does have the right to bring a claim against the estate of their ex husband or wife. They might do so if financial matters arising from the marriage breakdown had not been sorted out, there was no order preventing them from bringing a claim or if they were being maintained by their former spouse at the time of the death.
