Why Estate Planning Is Just as Important as Wedding Planning

People spend time and money meticulously crafting their Wills, working with trusted legal advisors to ensure that their assets are distributed fairly and in accordance with their wishes.

However, when they subsequently decide to marry, they may not fully appreciate how this impacts arrangements they had thoughtfully put in place. 

In many jurisdictions, including England and Wales, the act of getting married revokes a previously made Will, except in limited circumstances whereby the Will explicitly states that it was created in contemplation of that marriage.

This legal quirk is based on the presumption that newlyweds will want to include their spouse in their estate plan.

Accordingly, failure to update a Will after getting married can result in intestacy laws dictating how the estate will be distributed, potentially overlooking the deceased’s wishes and possibly resulting in adverse tax consequences.

Despite this, research from Macmillan Cancer Support found that 1.5 million people have not updated their Will since getting married.

Increasingly, couples are consciously deciding not to get married.

However, according to the National Will Register’s Will Report, only 44% of people have made a Will.

This is worrisome, given that a long-term partner to whom you are not married nor in a civil partnership is not entitled to any of your estate under the intestacy rules.

If, however, you had been financially maintaining them, they would have to bring a claim against your estate for financial provision, an experience which can be costly and stressful.

This underscores the importance of making a Will even if you are not contemplating marriage. 

Beyond the legal twists and turns of marriage and divorce, these events bring emotional and logistical hurdles which must be addressed within the estate plan.

If you enter a new relationship following a divorce and you want to ensure your children from your previous marriage receive inheritance, making sure your Will is up to date is essential. 

If you have stepchildren in your new relationship and you don’t update your Will, your estate could pass to them after yours and your partner’s death.

This could ultimately result in your children bringing a claim against the estate of your second spouse. 

A common concern is wanting to ensure that personal wealth passes to children whilst also wanting to provide for a new partner.

A life-interest trust arrangement presents an option to provide for your current partner during their lifetime while ensuring that your assets ultimately pass to your children, but again, it is important to look at the tax consequences as spouses are in a more favourable position. 

Blended families resulting from second marriages require careful consideration when estate planning to ensure that all loved ones are provided for and potential conflicts are mitigated.