Our team often get asked about the impact of divorce on existing legal arrangements such as Wills. Rachel Macwilliam, Solicitor in our family law team, explores the topic of Wills and Divorce.

Should I wait until after my divorce to update my Will?

When you’ve made the momentous decision to get divorced, making a new Will will probably not be at the top of your list of priorities. However, the last thing you will want is for your soon to be ex-spouse to benefit, or for out-of-date guardianship arrangements to come into force, should you die before the divorce is finalised. As divorces generally take at least six months to be finalised, it is sensible to get on with making a Will as soon as possible rather than risk dying either intestate or with a Will in place which is out of date. Until the final order is reached, you remain spouses, so should either of you die in the interim, Wills made during your marriage remain in place and are valid. Should you die without a Will, the laws of intestacy would apply, meaning that your soon to be ex-spouse would be likely to inherit. So, in summary, the answer to the question above is no, you shouldn’t wait.

What about my pension and life insurance?

You should also inform your pension and life insurance provider that you are in the process of getting divorced. They will get you to complete a form to confirm who should be your beneficiary instead of your soon to be ex-spouse. It isn’t a cast iron guarantee that they will not pay out to your spouse if you die whilst still legally married, but it is worth doing anyway.

What happens to my Will once I am divorced?

A Will made prior to divorce is still valid but as far as inheritance is concerned, your ex-spouse is treated as if they had died when your marriage was dissolved. If you made a Will during the process of divorce, this should be revisited once the divorce has been finalised to ensure that it still meets your needs in light of whatever financial settlement is reached. If you remarry, a new Will would need to be made as marriage revokes any Will which wasn’t made in contemplation of marriage.

Make clear reasoning behind your new Will

Claims can be made against your Estate by certain groups of people who were financially dependent on you, including spouses. To mitigate the risk of such claims being successful, it is wise to explain the reasoning for leaving them out of your new Will in a legal statement which could be considered by the Court in the event of your Will being contested by your ex-spouse. These claims are also dismissed when a financial order is made, which is why it is so important to deal with the financial aspect of your divorce at an early stage.

Get in touch

If you would like to speak to our friendly and experienced team about any of the issues raised in this blog, you can call us on 01872 241408 or email info@penderlaw.co.uk