Law Commission Recommends The Law Be Changed To Not Revoke A Will On Marriage

The Law Commission has today (16 May 2025) published its long-awaited report for the modernisation of Wills law and recommendations for reform.

Wills law has remained largely unchanged for almost 200 years, despite various social and economic changes; including on average a greater life expectancy, and a far greater recognition and understanding of health and well-being and individual capacity.

So, this report, which began its investigation back in 2016, has been very much anticipated by all legal professionals; and particularly both Private Client and Family law practitioners will recognise the impact the recommendations will directly have on their clients.

The focus of these reforms has been to look at what recommendations could help protect the vulnerable in society, to help prevent undue influence, and to ‘promote testamentary freedom’.

One of the report’s key recommendations is the abolition of the law that revokes a Will upon marriage or civil partnership.

A lot of people don’t realise that their Will (unless made in anticipation of a wedding) will be revoked on marriage.

Many people that might have gone through to structure their estate in a way which is then efficient to deal with upon their passing (estate planning). This is particularly the case if they own property, have young children, or otherwise have assets that they want to ‘future proof’. Then with the excitement and anticipation of a wedding, they may not realise those plans will no longer be effective after saying ‘I do’.

Unless a Will is drafted in anticipation of a particular marriage, without updating their Will, an individual’s estate will be administered in accordance with the Intestacy Rules (the law for those who die without a valid Will). This could have drastic consequences as the rules do not take into account any individual’s family or financial circumstances.

In the majority of cases, at that stage, the deceased’s spouse will inherit the first £322,000 of the estate regardless of what may have been the deceased’s wishes in their previous Will (albeit there are situations where it may be appropriate for this presumption to be challenged. The residuary estate will then be divided equally between the surviving spouse again and children of the deceased, if there are any. Any minors would then become automatically entitled to their inheritance upon turning 18 years old.

For many this will have been a genuine oversight in ‘life-admin’ matters; but there are those who will exploit this apparent legal-flaw, knowing that most do not know of it, establishing a ‘predatory marriage’ with a vulnerable person, with disastrous financial consequences for families at a time when the family is grieving and vulnerable themselves.

As part of the concern around undue influence and considering how the law can be updated to protect the vulnerable, the Law Commission has looked to modernise the law in this area and recommends abolishing the presumption that a Will is revoked on marriage.

This would also bring the law into recognising the social context of cohabitation (which it is reported has surpassed the number of married couples) and not penalising those who chose not to marry.

Many will welcome a change that means an individual’s wishes are not ‘replaced’ upon marriage or civil partnership; recognising the social changes and expectations that people should not be unnecessarily prohibited from exercising individual autonomy after marriage/civil partnership.

There will be situations of course where an old Will (if not being revoked) takes effect when morally perhaps it shouldn’t. For example, someone prepared their Will leaving their house to a friend but has since married and has two young children and would likely have wanted the house to go to them. The government may need to consider such eventualities and it may mean a gradual change; so that qualifying/superseding life events do not lead to an increase in Inheritance Act Claims on behalf of children and other vulnerable people. It will be interesting to see what the government do following the Commission’s recommendations but it is certainly important that the law continues to reflect modern society and that old laws are constantly being reviewed for relevancy and effectiveness.

If you would like to speak about this subject matter in greater detail, please get in touch with our Family Law solicitors on 0330 828 6347 to enquire today. We have honest and professional family law solicitors in London and Liverpool, so we’re here to support your case no matter where you’re based.