11 life moments when you really should update your will

Bride and groom hugging grandmother at wedding

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If you've written a will, congratulations are in order. At least a third of UK adults over-55 don’t have one , which could leave their family in a desperate position if they die unexpectedly.

However, don’t think that now you’ve outlined your wishes that you’re set until your death. There are several scenarios, many you might not have considered, that could invalidate the will or change the way your wishes will be delivered.

It’s also important to consider how you update the will, says Richard Atkinson, Vice President of the Law Society of England and Wales. “It can prevent a whole raft of problems landing on loved ones.”

He highlights how it’s important to ensure the process is conducted properly, recommending that you speak to a qualified professional before making any changes.

When updating your will, you might only want to make a small change every so often, or a more dramatic rewrite to reflect bigger changes – and the exact wording is critical to ensure your wishes are carried out exactly.

Key terms to know

Codicil: An addition to a will that explains, modifies or changes part of it. These can be used to update your existing will, rather than needing to write a whole new one. This could include adding a new grandchild, removing a beneficiary that has died or changing executors.

However, if you add in many codicils or they start to feel confusing, it’s often best to rewrite the will to ensure it’s clear when being read.

To ensure your codicil is watertight, it still needs to be dated, signed and witnessed in the same way as your will and stored alongside it. If you aren’t sure how to do this, or whether a codicil will suffice, ask your legal adviser.

Laws of intestacy: These are rules that govern how your estate will be distributed if you die without making a will. Your personal wishes will not be taken into account – instead, things will be allocated according to whether you’re married, have children, or remaining family .

Beneficiaries: These are named people (or entities) who will receive a benefit or gift from your estate after you’ve died.

Executor: This is an individual (or individuals) who has responsibility for settling your estate after you've died. This includes, among other duties , valuing your estate, clearing any debts and paying any tax that is owed before distributing your estate according to the instructions in your will.

Trusts and trustees: If you need to provide for children or vulnerable family members after you’ve died, you may be advised to include a trust in your will . This is a legal structure that protects your assets, so it’s important to get professional help on this.

Trustees will also need to be appointed – it is their legal responsibility to manage the trust in accordance with your wishes on your beneficiaries’ behalf.

1. Getting married (or remarried)

The moment you get married – whether for the first, second or 10th time – any existing will is instantly revoked in England and Wales (although the rules are different in Scotland).

“Even if your wishes remain unchanged, you need to write a new [will]’ says Atkinson.

If you don’t, when you die it'll be as if you’d never written a will at all.

Your assets will then be distributed according to the laws of intestacy, with the clear danger being that this may not reflect your wishes.

Any surviving spouse or civil partner comes first , followed by any children, parents or siblings (in that order) then other surviving relatives.

Emily Deane, Technical Counsel and Head of Government Affairs at global professional law body STEP, says: “If you have children from a first marriage then you’ll probably want to make sure both your children and new spouse are provided for in the event of your death.”

This is because, without a valid will, if you have children from a previous relationship your new spouse takes precedence. They will inherit the first £322,000 of your estate and half the remaining amount, with the rest split among any children.

Your spouse is then free to update their own will and change the terms you might have previously agreed on, such as passing parts of the estate onto your children. While this can be challenged, it’s a situation many would likely want to avoid.

In this case, you might want to consider getting a will trust, which allows you add certain conditions and give your children greater protection.

For instance, if the house you and your new spouse live in is in your name, you could specify they are allowed to stay there until death, but then it passes to the children.

However, creating a trust and setting trustees to manage your wishes is a more complicated process, and it’s essential you get legal advice first.

2. Getting engaged

This life event isn’t necessarily a key moment to update a will - if you’re planning to do so after the marriage is complete, you may not need to bother.

However, if another event gives you reason to heavily update your will in the months leading up to the ceremony, you can avoid needing to repeat your actions as soon as you’re wed.

The way a will can remain valid after marriage is if you write it in advance, or ’in contemplation of marriage’ to use the legal term.

This option can be complex, as it needs some specific language so not be deemed invalid as soon as the marriage is confirmed so, again, it’s worth getting legal advice.

3. Getting divorced

While marriage nullifies your will, divorce doesn’t. Any existing document remains valid, but with one key exception: for inheritance purposes, your ex-spouse is treated as if they had died when your marriage dissolved .

This means they can no longer benefit financially when you die, so if you want them to remain as a beneficiary, you must specifically state that you want them to do so .

Without updating your will, any assets will pass onto the next beneficiary named in your will, and your ex will be removed as an executor or trustee – even if you intended them to continue in that role.

On the other side, your ex-partner can still challenge the will after your death , so you’ll want to get legal advice to examine the wording of your will so it's clear.

4. You begin cohabiting

Around six million Britons now cohabit, but unmarried partners have no right to inherit without a valid will - unless they are in a civil partnership. The myth persists that they have rights as a “common-law spouse", but there is no such thing .

They may be able to claim financial provision if they have been living together for more than two years, but the process is costly and complex, with no guarantee of success.

Writing a will is even more important if you have children. It should set out how you want to administer your estate and appoint guardians for children while they are under 18 if you were to both to die.

If you bought a home together, Deane says you have a choice. “You can own it as joint tenants, which means your share of the property will pass automatically to your partner if you die. As tenants-in-common [where you each own a portion of the house], you can pass your share to whoever you nominated in your will.”

As a broad rule, spouses and partners opt to own as joint tenants, while friends, siblings, trustees and business partners own as tenants-in-common .

5. Separating from an unmarried partner (with children)

If you separate from the other parent to your children (and are unmarried) then it’s time to check the wording of your will – as you may well have named them as an executor or trustee of your estate.

Updating the person (or people) you want to administer your wishes will ensure you’ve got someone to look after the inheritance you’d like to give your children, sidestepping any issues arising from your separation.

This executor or trustee will manage your estate for your children if they’re under 18, so you’ll know they’ll care for your dependants in the way you want.

6. A beneficiary dies

You might assume that you’ll die before those you want to give an inheritance to, especially if they’re younger than you, but sadly this isn't always the case.

If they die first, your assets will usually be split among the remaining beneficiaries.

If the main person to inherit was your spouse, for example, and your will states that if they die first, everything should pass to your child instead, then you may not need to change your will.

However, if only one person was due to inherit anything and they pass away before you, it’s important to update your will and make clear your wishes over who will now inherit, to avoid any potential complexity.

7. Your executor dies

When you wrote your will, you probably named at least one executor to take responsibility for carrying out your wishes and sort out the estate once you’ve died.

If you only appointed one executor and they die before you, then the responsibility will fall to either a named replacement or, as you can appoint up to four executors, one of them would take over.

If there is no living executor at the time of your death, then there’s a complex process where certain beneficiaries will have to apply for a ‘grant of representation’ in England or Wales, or ‘confirmation’ in Scotland.

Now, this can cause delays to the process and add a lot of stress in a difficult time, so it’s important to ensure you always have a valid executor in your will, one you've had the opportunity to explain your wishes to.

8. Having children, grandchildren or stepchildren

If you’ve welcomed a new addition into your family since you last updated your will, then it could be time to give it a quick update to include them.

This could be done with a small codicil if the changes aren’t vast, but a birth is always a good time to check your will if you’ve not done so in a while.

If you find your will is invalid for any reason, and the rules of intestacy were applied as a result, then only biological or adopted children would have been recognised.

The rules of intestacy do not take into account step children or foster children (if they haven’t been adopted by the new parent), so they can only inherit from you if you have named them as beneficiaries in your will.

So if, when you remarry, your partner already has children you’d like to benefit from your estate, you must rewrite your will - and confirm it’s valid - to make sure they receive what you’d like to pass on.

9. Moving home

A house move is a good time to review your wishes . If nothing else changes, the only thing you need to do is store a note with your will stating the new address, and it’s a good idea to update the person or service storing your documents too.

Moving house likely means your new property will have a different value, so it’s worth considering what effect that will have on inheritance.

If you’ve bought a property with someone else for the first time, then you’ll need to update your will to show whether this is as ‘joint tenants’ or ‘tenants in common’ (as referenced in point four) and a legal adviser can help you ensure your property is passed on correctly.

10. You want to exclude someone

Disinheriting somebody is a big step . The reasons are varied and personal but, whatever the cause, excluding someone from a will can cause ill feeling, so any change must be clear and thought out, ideally with a legal adviser.

The best advice is to be open and honest with anyone you intend to disinherit, to ensure a smoother understanding of the situation after your death - and you’re able to deal with any issues as best you can.

Otherwise, those that miss out on inheritance may be more willing to challenge the will and cause stress for everyone involved.

11. It’s been five years since the last review

Atkinson from the Law Society recommends reviewing your will at least every five years, just to be sure it’s still delivering what you need.

Unless there have been major changes to your family circumstances, the chances are the check will show everything is as you intended.

However, in the years since you last updated your will, the value of your estate may have changed, meaning you might need to rethink what you’ll be leaving and to who – especially if this means inheritance tax comes into the frame.

At the very least, a professional can give you their thoughts on whether you’ll need to make wholesale changes or smaller alterations. “Even if you only add a codicil, you must still sign and get it witnessed in the same way as a will,” Atkinson warns.