Your Will: Consequences of Divorce on Your Will
Key Takeaways:
Divorce triggers automatic changes in your will, revoking spousal roles and benefits.
Post-divorce, promptly update your will to reflect new beneficiaries, ensuring a legally sound estate plan.
The Wills Act states that if you die within three months of being divorced, and you have not made a new Will subsequent to your divorce, then your ex-spouse will not benefit, or inherit from your estate.
This 3-part series on your will outlines certain important points to ensure your will is drafted in accordance with the laws relating to the drafting of Wills.
This is the second topic discussing the implications of divorce on your Will and when your ex-spouse may benefit (inherit) from your estate.
The Wills Act states that if you die within three months of being divorced, and you have not made a new Will subsequent to your divorce, then your ex-spouse will not benefit, or inherit from your estate. Section 2B of the Wills Act allows a three-month period after a divorce for ex-spouses to update their will based on their changed circumstances. If your will has not been changed during this time, the law stipulates that the terms of your existing will remain in place. This explains why, if you die after 3 months of being divorced without having changed your will, it is assumed your intention was still for your ex-spouse to inherit.
It’s important to note that if the will makes it clear that the ex-spouse will benefit regardless of a divorce, then that ex-spouse will inherit if the testator dies within three months of the divorce.
So you need think further than your current circumstances and make sure that your will provides for any significant changes, and also of course that you keep your will updated.
In the next post in the series, we’ll discuss what happens in the case of a beneficiary being the cause of a testator’s death.
[Read the first article on the importance of witnesses here, and the third on what happens when a beneficiary has intentionally been the cause of the testator’s death here].
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