MARRIAGE // Marriage and the Revocation of Wills: Will the government say ‘I do’?
There is a long-standing rule in English succession law under which marriage automatically revokes an existing Will, which is increasingly out of step with modern life. We spoke with Hunters Law to explore how a provision originally intended to protect surviving spouses can, in practice, leave vulnerable individuals exposed, particularly in cases of predatory marriage, and reflect on the recent proposals for reform put forward by the Law Commission, while questioning whether changes to Wills law alone go far enough without wider safeguards.
Under the Wills Act 1837, entering into a marriage or civil partnership automatically revokes any existing Will unless it was made specifically in contemplation of that marriage. This means that if someone marries and fails to complete a new Will afterwards or a Will in expectation of their marriage, their estate will be distributed according to the intestacy rules that determines who inherits if there is no valid Will.
While originally intended to protect surviving spouses to ensure some provision was made for them, this provision is now widely regarded as outdated. In some cases, it has even been exploited through what is known as predatory marriages, where someone marries a vulnerable person for financial gain, such as to inherit their estate.
The government previously acknowledged the need to modernise the law relating to Wills in 2018, but the project was paused due to competing demands.
More recently, in May 2025, the Law Commission released a consultation paper on Wills. Among the proposed reforms was a recommendation to stop marriage from automatically revoking a Will. There is hope that Parliament will revisit this issue, particularly in light of concerns about predatory marriage.
Capacity to Marry vs Capacity to Make a Will
The legal threshold for mental capacity to marry is relatively low, whereas the standard for making a valid Will is significantly higher.
This discrepancy can lead to troubling scenarios: a person may be deemed capable of marrying but not of completing a new Will afterwards. If such a marriage occurs, it is not automatically void, it is merely voidable, i.e. it is a valid marriage until a Court declares it to be invalid, and is typically only challenged after the individual's death. By then, the original Will has been automatically revoked, and the estate would pass to the new spouse under intestacy rules.
This inconsistency between the two capacity tests was highlighted by the Law Commission as a compelling reason for legal reform.
Can Reform Prevent Predatory Marriages?
While the proposed change, to prevent marriage from revoking a Will, would be a significant step forward and hopefully help as a deterrent against predatory marriages (as, if there is a pre-existing valid Will, the new spouse would not benefit under the intestacy provisions), it is not a complete solution.
The Law Commission acknowledges that additional safeguards will be necessary. For instance, research from the Money and Pensions Service shows that around 22% of adults aged 65 and over do not have a Will at all. These individuals would remain vulnerable to predatory marriage, as there would be no Will to protect in the first place.
This raises a critical question: will the government adopt the proposed reform, and if so, will it be sufficient to shield vulnerable individuals from exploitation through marriage? Arguably there should also be stronger safeguards in the marriage process for vulnerable individuals to detect signs of coercion or incapacity.
Authored by:
Esme Sheridan | Associate, Hunters Law T +44 (0)20 7412 5196 E esme.sheridan@hunterslaw.com
Louise Walker | Partner, Hunters Law T +44 (0)20 7412 5065 E louise.walker@hunterslaw.com