Wills and marriages

[Ebbie]

Can somebody please tell me why a will becomes void after marriage? I'm curious about the legal reasons for this law. Also, if you want to keep your Will the same would it be as simple as making a copy and re-signing with a post-marriage date or is there something else that needs to be changed?

 

[skater]

Your solicitor should be able to give you the correct answer.

 

[Terry_w]

Wills may or may not be void after marriage. It will depend on the wording of the will and the relevant state law.

in NSW for example a gift to an ex spouse is void but the will itself is not revoked, s13. But note that this applies only to marriages and not to defacto separations.

 

[Perp]

Can somebody please tell me why a will becomes void after marriage? I'm curious about the legal reasons for this law.

I defer to Terryw re the legalities of ensuring your will is valid, but will point out that in Queensland you can make a "will in contemplation of marriage", which - in plain language - means that if you flag in your will that you're planning to marry X and intend for your will to remain valid, that can be achieved provided it's done properly. (Not for amateurs.)

I believe the logic is to protect spouses from greedy families. e.g. Wealthy bachelor makes will leaving everything to parents, and gets married and forgets to make a new will. If the will remained valid - particularly prior to modern family laws - it could mean that the widow receives nothing, but remains responsible for joint debts such as a mortgage.

Making the will invalid allows the deceased to be declared to have died intestate and thus the court can take into account the various parties and their obligations etc. and ensure a more just distribution of assets.

The logic is that marriage is such a dramatic change to your situation, that if you didn't update your will, you probably intended to, and not having a new will is assumed to be an oversight.

 

[Terry_w]

Same in NSW, marriage revokes a will, s12, but a specific wording that says the will is made in contemplation of marriage will mean the will is not revoked.

I think the idea behind the divorce revoking a will is that most people are slack at amending their wills so people would often divorce but not get around to changing their wills and then if this was the case the evil ex-spouse would have inherited.