This week ends my trilogy on marriage and divorce with the question: what happens to your estate plan when you divorce? Most people would be quite surprised to learn that divorce in Ontario does not automatically revoke a will. Instead, what happens depends on how far...
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divorce
Death in the middle of divorce
I am currently assisting two clients with estate administration for their husbands, both of whom died very suddenly and without wills. The situations are opposite, and it comes down to a separation agreement. For my first client, she and her husband had been separated...
A separation
In Ontario, marriage automatically revokes a will. The moment I sign my marriage documents this October, it will revoke my current will; I could choose to revive it later, but I would have to deliberately do so. The rationale for this is that a spouse or future...
Wedding bells and divorce decrees
In Ontario, if you marry, your will is automatically revoked. Whenever I say this, even if the person I am speaking to is a bit surprised, they see the logic: revoking your will means that you do not accidentally disinherit a new spouse simply because you forgot to...
Changing it up
Many people know that, on marriage, your will is automatically revoked. There is a good public policy reason for this: your spouse should not be disinherited simply because you forgot to update your will. (I touched on the issue of predatory marriages a while back.)...