If you get remarried any will you have made previously is revoked by the marriage. This will mean you no longer have a will and if you were to die your estate would be distributed according to the rules of intestacy. Find out more in our ‘Rules of intestacy’ article.
However, the will won’t be revoked if it states you are about to marry a particular person and you don’t want the the will to be revoked when that happens. If you want to make a will before your remarriage and want it to continue afterwards, there is a clause we can include to ensure this happens. We can also deal with any other bequests you want to make at that time. Find out more in our ‘Making a will if you’re getting married’ article.
Your children’s rights
Your children’s rights will be completely unaffected provided that you make a will before the remarriage making clear that it isn’t revoked by that marriage. Alternatively you could make a new will after the remarriage. If you don’t make a new will, any existing will you have will be revoked upon your marriage, meaning the rules of intestacy would then apply if you were to die. This would mean your new spouse would get the first £250,000 of your estate and all your possessions, no matter what their value is. The remainder will then get split equally between your spouse and your children.
Providing for your children and new spouse in your will
Who you choose to leave your estate to (or you choose to include or leave out) is entirely up to you but you should consider including those who depend on you financially or for a home. If you exclude those who are dependent on you they make be able to make a claim on your estate after you’ve died. Find out more in our ‘When can your will be challenged in court’ and ‘Who to include in your will’ articles.
One issue many face when they remarry is that of protecting the interests of their children, mainly that they will ultimately inherit the family home (possibly from your previous relationship). But in doing this you don’t want to make your new spouse homeless if they survive you. This can be resolved by using a family trust in your will. This will allow your spouse to continue living in the property for the remainder of their lifetime, but when they die it will revert to whoever you specify – in this situation, your children. Find out more in our ‘What are trusts in a will’ article.