06
October
We Are Divorcing – Will My Soon-to-be-Ex Spouse Receive Anything From My Will?
Many of our divorcing clients are concerned about how divorce will affect their future estate planning and whether their ex-spouse will receive anything from their previously drawn up Wills.
Our Amye Aris, Wills and Probate Solicitor at New Leaf Solicitors, sets out the position for divorcing or divorced couples.
Does getting divorced automatically revoke my previous Will?
The act of divorce and obtaining a Decree Absolute operates to treat your ex-spouse as if they had predeceased you on the date the Decree Absolute is granted. Divorce does not, however, automatically revoke your Will. This means that your ex cannot automatically inherit under any pre-divorce Will, but it could mean, depending on the terms of that Will, that your estate or gifts within it will fail and fall under the rules of intestacy. The consequence of this would mean that your estate may not be distributed in the way you had set out for