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Divorce and your Will

Effect of divorce on your Will

If your marriage/ civil partnership is ended by a court order your Will is still valid. However any gift to your former spouse/ civil partner takes effect as if they had died on the date your decree became absolute. Usually this means the gift to your spouse/ civil partner fails and falls back into the residue of your estate for the benefit of substitute beneficiaries, providing you have nominated them in your Will.

Although it is still recommended that you make a new Will after your divorce, if you do not wish your spouse/ civil partner to benefit from your original Will prior to your divorce you do not have to wait for the decree absolute, and you may appoint new executors, trustees and beneficiaries immediately.

It is also important to remember that assets held in joint names usually pass automatically to the other joint owner(s) and do not form part of your estate so you may wish to consider changing the way you own your assets, especially your house so that it may be distributed under the terms of your new Will (if you are unsure about the type of joint ownership you share with another or you require a Will please contact Steele Rose & Co through the form on this website).