Wills and Weddings: Why estate planning should be part of your wedding checklist

Wedding season is upon us, and it is a time for celebration, excitement and careful planning. Couples spend months planning the venue, guest list, flowers, photographs, honeymoon and all the tiny details which will make their day special. However, one important piece of planning is frequently overlooked: making or updating a Will.

For anyone getting married or entering into a civil partnership, a Will should sit alongside the other practical arrangements being made before the big day. It may not feel as romantic as choosing a first dance or booking a honeymoon, but it is one of the most important ways of protecting your new spouse or civil partner, your children, your wider family and the assets you have worked hard to build.

There is often confusion about what happens to an existing Will when someone marries, enters a civil partnership, separates or divorces. Many people assume that a Will remains valid until they choose to change it. In fact, in England and Wales, marriage and civil partnership can have a significant legal effect on a Will, and divorce can also alter the way a Will operates. Understanding those rules before a wedding can help avoid unexpected and sometimes distressing consequences later.

Why a Will should be part of wedding planning

Does getting married cancel a Will?

When you get married or enter into a civil partnership, any Will that you made before the marriage or civil partnership will generally be automatically revoked unless it was made in contemplation of that specific marriage or civil partnership. This means that, if you do not make a new Will, or if your existing Will does not contain the correct wording, you won’t have a valid Will in place. Your estate would then be distributed under the intestacy rules rather than in accordance with your specific wishes.

Can you make a Will in anticipation of marriage?

If you are engaged and want to make a Will before the wedding, it is possible to include a clause stating that the Will is made in contemplation of your marriage or civil partnership to a named person and should not be revoked if and when that marriage or civil partnership takes place. This can be a sensible option and means that you can deal with your Will well in advance.  This can be practically useful, particularly if you are travelling for your honeymoon, buying a property together, entering into a second marriage or blending two families.

The wording needs to be clear and properly drafted to ensure that it is effective.  It is also worth noting that you do not actually have to be engaged to include this wording in your Will, and you may ultimately decide that you don’t want to get married.  If you are in a long-term relationship, however, including this provision, gives you the security of knowing that if you did decide to take that step, your Will is already taken care of.

What happens if you die without a Will before marriage?

Wedding planning often involves practical financial planning: joint bank accounts, a shared home, life insurance, mortgage arrangements and sometimes business interests. A Will should be part of this, allowing you to decide who should inherit, who should administer your estate and how your assets should be managed.

If you are not yet married and you die before the wedding, your partner will not automatically inherit simply because you were engaged or living together. This can create difficulties where an unmarried couple owns property together, one partner is financially dependent on the other, or the couple has children. Making a Will before the wedding can provide protection both before and after the ceremony.

Considerations when making a Will in a blended family

Second marriages and civil partnerships are commonplace, and many couples bring children from previous relationships into the new family. In those circumstances, a Will is essential. Without one, the intestacy rules may mean that a surviving spouse or civil partner receives the whole or majority of an estate, depending on its value, and children from a previous relationship may receive less than was intended.  The intestacy rules also do not allow for provision for step-children.

A properly drafted Will can balance competing priorities. For example, it can provide for a spouse or civil partner while also protecting children’s inheritance, perhaps through the use of trusts or carefully structured gifts. This is not only about money -  it can also reduce the risk of disagreement between family members at an already difficult time.

What can a Will do beyond deciding who inherits?

A Will does more than say who receives your estate. It also allows you to appoint executors - the people who will be responsible for dealing with your assets, paying liabilities and distributing your estate. If you have children under 18, a Will can also appoint guardians. For couples planning a family, or already raising children together, this can be one of the most important reasons to put a Will in place.

Making a Will may not be the most obvious item on a wedding checklist, but it is a practical step that can provide reassurance. Once it is dealt with, you can get on with enjoying the celebrations knowing that your legal affairs have not been left to chance.

What if you do not have a Will?

If you die without a valid Will, your estate will be dealt with under the intestacy rules. These rules set out who is entitled to administer your estate and who is entitled to inherit from it. They do not take account of personal wishes, verbal promises or family arrangements that fall outside the legal order of entitlement.

This can create serious problems for couples who are engaged but not yet married, couples in blended families, and families where children, stepchildren or other relatives are intended to benefit. A Will is the clearest way to make sure your estate passes in the way you choose.

Parents of children who are getting married

Should parents review their Wills when a child gets married?

Wedding season is not only a prompt for the couple getting married. It can also be an important reminder for parents whose children are marrying. A child’s marriage may change the wider family’s financial and personal circumstances, and it is sensible to consider whether your own Will still achieves what you intend.

Parents often want to ensure that wealth passes down to their children and grandchildren in a controlled and protected way. If a child marries, you may wish to consider whether an outright gift to that child remains appropriate, or whether your Will should include trust provisions to provide flexibility and protection. This may be relevant where there are concerns about relationship breakdown, second marriages, vulnerable beneficiaries, business assets, farming assets or family property.

A child’s wedding can also be a good time to talk, sensitively, about inheritance expectations and estate planning. These conversations do not need to be uncomfortable. They can help reduce misunderstandings and make sure that your Will, any lifetime gifting and any wider estate planning are working together.

How does divorce affect your Will?

Although this article focuses on wedding season, it is also important to understand what happens if a marriage or civil partnership later breaks down. In England and Wales, when a divorce is finalised, an existing Will is not automatically revoked. Instead, the law generally treats the former spouse or civil partner as having died before the person who made the Will.

This usually means that any gift to the former spouse or civil partner fails, and any appointment of them as executor or trustee will also fail, unless the Will makes clear that a different result is intended. If the Will names substitute beneficiaries or substitute executors, those provisions may then take effect.

It is very important to note that if you are separated but not yet divorced, you remain legally married. Your spouse or civil partner may still benefit under your Will, and may still be entitled under the intestacy rules if you do not have a valid Will.

If you have children with a former spouse or civil partner, you may still want them to act in a particular role, for example as a trustee or guardian, or you may wish to remove them. Either way, your wishes should be recorded clearly in an updated Will.

For anyone entering a marriage, leaving a marriage or forming a new family unit, reviewing a Will is a key part of keeping personal affairs up to date.

A practical wedding season checklist

If you are getting married or entering into a civil partnership, consider the following before the big day:

·         Do you already have a Will, and will it be revoked by the marriage or civil partnership?

·         Should you make a new Will before the wedding, in contemplation of marriage or civil partnership?

·         Have you appointed appropriate executors, trustees and guardians?

·         Do you need to protect your children’s interests?

·         Are your property, pensions, life policies and business interests consistent with your Will?

·         Have your parents or other family members reviewed their own Wills in light of the wedding?

Taking advice early means these issues can be dealt with calmly, rather than becoming an urgent task immediately before the ceremony or being forgotten altogether once married life begins.

Speak to our Wills team today

Our Wills team are members of STEP (Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners), accredited members of the Association of Lifetime Lawyers, and recognised in the Legal 500. That's the expertise. But it's our approach that makes the difference, we listen, we make things clear, and we're with you every step of the way. When it comes to protecting the people you love, you want to know you're speaking to the right people.

If you would like advice about making or updating a Will in contemplation of a forthcoming marriage or civil partnership, following a recent marriage, as a parent of a child who is getting married, or in the event of relationship breakdown, please contact Elizabeth Whitaker on 01772 220022 or [email protected].