Every year, thousands of families across England and Wales discover a legal rule that most people have never heard of: marriage automatically revokes your Will. It does not matter how recently you wrote it. It does not matter how carefully it was drafted. The moment you marry or remarry, your existing Will is treated as though it never existed — unless it was specifically made in contemplation of that marriage.
For first-time couples marrying young with few assets, the consequences may be modest. But for business owners, property investors, and anyone entering a second or third marriage later in life — often with children from previous relationships, accumulated wealth, and complex family dynamics — the impact can be devastating.
The Legal Rule: Section 18 of the Wills Act 1837
The rule is straightforward. Under Section 18 of the Wills Act 1837 (as amended), a Will is automatically revoked upon the testator’s marriage or civil partnership. There is one exception: if the Will was made “in expectation of” a specific marriage and expressly states this, it survives. In practice, very few Wills contain this clause — and even fewer people know to ask for it.
This means that if you have a carefully crafted estate plan — with trusts, specific legacies, guardian appointments, and tax-efficient structures — and then marry without updating your Will, every element of that plan is wiped out. You die intestate, and your estate is distributed according to the rigid intestacy rules, regardless of your actual wishes.
What the Intestacy Rules Actually Do
When someone dies without a valid Will in England and Wales, the intestacy rules dictate who inherits. For married individuals, the rules are:
- If you have no children: your spouse inherits everything.
- If you have children: your spouse receives all personal possessions, the first £322,000 of the estate, and half of the remainder. Your children share the other half equally.
On the surface, this may sound reasonable. But consider how it plays out in practice for blended families.
The Blended Family Trap
Imagine this scenario. David, 58, is a business owner with two adult children from his first marriage. He owns a home worth £650,000 and has business assets worth £400,000. He marries Sarah, who has one child of her own. David has a comprehensive Will leaving his estate in trust for his children, with provision for Sarah during her lifetime.
The wedding revokes David’s Will. He means to write a new one but life gets busy. Eighteen months later, David dies unexpectedly.
Under the intestacy rules, Sarah receives all personal possessions, the first £322,000, and half the remainder. David’s two children share the other half of the remainder between them. Sarah’s child — David’s stepchild — inherits nothing directly, but stands to inherit everything Sarah receives when she eventually dies.
The result: David’s children receive a fraction of what he intended. The business may need to be sold to fund the distribution. The family home goes to Sarah outright. And the carefully designed trust structure that would have protected everyone? It never existed.
Five Groups Most at Risk
1. Business owners remarrying later in life. Business assets, shareholder agreements, and succession plans can all be disrupted when intestacy rules override a structured Will. Partners and co-directors may find their carefully planned exit strategies in chaos.
2. Property investors with portfolios. Multiple properties create complex distribution challenges under intestacy. Rental income, joint ownership arrangements, and mortgage obligations do not pause while the estate is sorted out.
3. Parents with children from previous relationships. Under intestacy, children from a previous relationship may receive significantly less than intended — and a new spouse may receive significantly more. There is no mechanism under intestacy for discretionary trust arrangements that balance competing interests.
4. People with existing trust structures. If your current Will creates trusts — whether property protection trusts, discretionary trusts, or life interest trusts — remarriage without a new Will destroys those structures entirely. The assets pass under intestacy as though the trusts were never planned.
5. Cohabiting couples who later marry. Many couples live together for years, accumulate joint assets, and eventually marry. If one partner has a Will from before the relationship, marrying revokes it. The assumption that “nothing has changed” is legally wrong.
The Contemplation of Marriage Clause
The one exception to automatic revocation is a Will made “in contemplation of marriage” to a specific person. This clause must explicitly name the intended spouse and state that the Will is made in expectation of that particular marriage.
This is a useful tool when properly drafted. If you are engaged and want your current Will to survive the wedding, your solicitor can include this clause. But it has limitations: it only protects against revocation by the named marriage. A subsequent marriage to someone else would still revoke the Will.
In practice, the better approach for most people is to write a new Will after the wedding — one that reflects the new family structure, the changed legal landscape, and the updated priorities that come with every significant life event.
Divorce Is Different
An important distinction: divorce does not revoke your Will. Instead, it treats your former spouse as though they had died on the date the decree absolute was granted. Any gifts to them fail, and any appointment of them as executor lapses. The rest of the Will remains valid.
This creates its own trap. If your Will leaves everything to your spouse (and most do), divorce effectively leaves you with a Will that distributes nothing to anyone specific. The estate may pass under the residuary clause — or, if there is none, partially under intestacy rules. Either way, the result is rarely what anyone intended.
What You Should Do
Before the wedding:
- Review your current Will with your estate planner
- Decide whether to include a contemplation of marriage clause or plan for a new Will after the ceremony
- Discuss your wishes openly with your partner — particularly around children from previous relationships
- Consider a prenuptial agreement if significant assets are at stake
After the wedding:
- Write a new Will as soon as possible — ideally within the first month
- Review all trust structures and ensure they are properly re-established
- Update your Lasting Powers of Attorney if your attorneys have changed
- Notify your executors and trustees of the changes
- Update pension death benefit nominations and life insurance beneficiaries — these are separate from your Will but equally important
The Cost of Inaction
The Law Commission has previously considered reforming the automatic revocation rule, but it remains the law. Every week, families discover too late that a wedding — one of life’s happiest occasions — quietly destroyed the estate plan that was supposed to protect them.
Writing a new Will after marriage is straightforward, inexpensive relative to the assets it protects, and takes a fraction of the time that dealing with an intestacy dispute would require. The average contested probate case now costs upwards of £30,000 in legal fees and takes 12 to 18 months to resolve.
Your Will is not just a legal document. It is the clearest expression of your priorities, your values, and your love for the people who matter most. Marriage should strengthen that expression — not erase it.
If you are planning to marry or have recently married, contact Legacy Wills to review your estate plan. A short conversation now could save your family years of uncertainty.