You probably knew that getting divorced affects your Will in some way, but did you know that divorce means a former spouse will be treated as if they’ve been omitted from the Will? Nothing will pass to them. And, even if
you’ve named them as an executor, they won’t be able to act as one. The rest of the Will remains valid, and this could cause problems if there are no other named executors.
If you were to die whilst separated (but not divorced) and you didn’t have a valid Will in place, your estate would be subject to the laws of intestacy. This means that your spouse (who you would have been separated from) would become the main beneficiary of your estate. Your estranged spouse would also inherit if the Will had named them as main beneficiary.
It’s clear that it’s crucial to put a valid Will in place, and make sure it is altered whenever your life changes.
Most people know that, when you get married, any previous Will is automatically revoked. There are some exceptions to this: if you have given explicit instruction in the document that a marriage or civil partnership is about to be entered into, for example.
If you get divorced, however, there are no exceptions. You must rewrite your Will if you want your wishes to be carried out in the event of your death. Keeping your Will up-to-date if you do go through a divorce will ensure that
you can guard against Inheritance Tax by using trusts and other devices.
Your Will should reflect specific situations such as maintenance payments between former spouses. Maintenance or other periodical payments make the former spouse a dependant in the eyes of the law, and the new Will should
reflect this. A professional will be able to advise you based on your specific circumstances. Talk to us at Estate Legacy Services – we can give you honest guidance.
It may surprise you to know that your Will won’t be voided if your marriage is ended by court order(divorce/annulment). Instead, any gift to your former spouse takes effect as if s/he had died on the date of your decree absolute. The same happens if your Will had appointed your spouse as executor or trustee. And, if you’d left everything to him or her, then the effect is the same as if you had died intestate.
Even if you had appointed your former spouse as trustee of a trust for the benefit of your children, the trust fails.
You can avoid these results by making your intentions quite clear in your Will. You do not have to await the decree absolute: you can make a new Will at any time. The most important thing is to make a new Will immediately
after your divorce!
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