WIll my ex-spouse or new partner inherit my assets after a divorce?

Your ex-spouse will not inherit your assets after a divorce if your will is updated to exclude them. Your new partner will not inherit by default and should be written into your will if you wish them to.

People that have gone through a divorce may wonder what will happen to their assets if they meet a new partner- does their former spouse inherit or their new partner. When going through a divorce it is very easy to overlook the impact it can have on other issues, for example your will. Ensuring the protection of your assets should be a key consideration following any important life changes such as marriage or divorce. By keeping your will valid and up to date also ensures that your wishes will be honoured.  

What is the effect of divorce on my will?  

When you marry, any existing will is automatically void and so it is imperative that you create a new will that covers your wishes. However, when you divorce, this does not automatically revoke a will and any existing will remains valid, although your ex-spouse will no longer be able to benefit from it, unless you expressly state otherwise. Again, it’s important you create a new will to cover your wishes.  

If you’re considering or going through a divorce and are concerned about who will inherit your assets, click below for a free initial consultation with one of our expert divorce solicitors.

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What happens if I don’t update my will after divorce? 

If following a Decree Absolute ending a marriage, a person does not update their will then the will remains valid. Anything left to an ex-spouse in the will would be dealt with as if they had died on the date that the marriage legally ended. As a result, whatever they were set to inherit would then be passed on to the next beneficiary, in line with the terms of the will. This may be what the deceased wanted, but that is not always the case and so it is important to update a Will in light of a divorce. If everything had been left to your ex-spouse, with no other beneficiaries named, then the estate would be dealt with as if the person had died without a valid will in place at all. In these circumstances, the law will decide who inherits under the Rules of Intestacy. Dividing the estate following intestacy rules is both complicated and expensive, often resulting in an outcome that is not satisfactory to those involved and that does not honour the wishes of the deceased. 

The rules of intestacy do not provide for unmarried partners. Those in a new relationship after divorce that wish to provide for a new partner in the event of their death must update their will to expressly confirms this. It is very important to always update your Will after any life changing event. 

Executors 

Another important consideration is where a former spouse is named as executor. This is automatically revoked unless it is specifically covered in the Will for them to continue after divorce. If the ex-spouse was the only executor, this will cause issues since there will be no valid executor. 

Guardianship 

The care of any children is generally covered in a will and needs to be considered following a divorce. Usually, the appointment of a guardian does not take effect if one parent dies where there is a surviving parent. However, where the party making the appointment was named in a Children Arrangements Order as the person that the child should reside with, then the guardianship will take effect at the time of death even if there is a surviving spouse with parental responsibility (unless the surviving parent is also named in the order as someone the child lives with). The guardian will then share parental responsibility with the surviving parent. 

If I get married in the future, does that revoke my will?  

Unlike divorce, marriage automatically revokes a Will meaning that it is no longer valid. This means that when the person dies, the law of intestacy determine how the estate is divided if a new Will has not been executed. The only exception is where the Will specifically covers the issue of marriage and states it will not revoke it.  

Can my former spouse make an inheritance claim against my estate? 

A common misconception is that once you divorce, your ex-spouse will no longer be able to bring an inheritance claim against your estate if you were to die.  

If a person is financially maintaining their ex-spouse after they have divorced and they are not provided for in the new will, they may be able to bring a claim under the Inheritance Act so long as they have not remarried or entered into a civil partnership with someone else. This is the case even if the deceased was in a new relationship was also maintaining that new partner.