Marriage Law

[johntywino]

A friend of mine (65) is marrying a man of 82.He owns his own house and land,and has a will in existence sharing all amongst his relatives...If he died after getting wed, where does that leave the grieving widow financially and also if they divorced after say 12 months would she be entitled to half the property,despite having paid nothing??

[sandyRoe]

On marriage previous wills become invalid. I expect he'd want to make some provision for his new wife?

[mxyzptlk]

I think marriage revokes all existing wills (it always did in the Agatha Christie books)

[Barmaid]

On marriage, his will (unless it is made in contemplation of marriage) is revoked. If he didn't make another one after marriage, the estate would be distributed on the intestacy rules which means the wife would get a share (amount would depend on whether deceased also had children).

If they divorced after 12 months, she would be unlikely to receive much at all. It would be classed as a "short" marriage (being less than 5 years). She would be very unlikely to get half.

[ubasses]

When you marry any Will already in existence is no longer valid, unless it was written specifically taking the forthcoming marriage into account. However after the marriage he can still make a Will leaving his assets to his family but if the marriage goes on for many years with him supporting her she may have some claim as a dependant. I would very much doubt that she would be entitled to half his assets if the marriage only lasted 12 months.

[johntywino]

I always thought that once a person was married she was secure in the property if the husband died, and could not be removed by any relatives?

[mrs_overall]

No she is not secure in the property.
The other posters are all correct in what they have said.

Do I detect a faint whiff of "gold digger"?

[Barmaid]

No, she is not secure unless there is a Will/intestacy in her favour.

The best she could hope for is a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. She does not have to show she is dependant if she is married to the deceased, but clearly if she has wealth of her own it will have a bearing on her claim.

[johntywino]

Thank you all for your answers..They are NOT what I wanted to hear,so I'm not getting married!!!

[ummmm]

Looks like you hit the nail on the head MrsO

[bednobs]

why would anyone go into marriage contemplating getting a divorce in a year anyway?

[ummmm]

Money bednobs...

[sandyRoe]

Maybe she thinks he only has a year of fun in him at that age?

[johntywino]

Hey Sandy Roe, I heard that! I happen to have a very high sex drive, and am trying to get it a bit lower (it's in my head at the moment)

[tamborine]

oh phook - its all off then :(

[bednobs]

why does this all matter if it's "your friend"

[bimbo123456]

sounds like a prenuptial agreement is called for. My sister in law is considerably older than her husband, She has no children, he has two. They have in place an agreement that he can live in the house after she dies unless he remarries in which case the house is sold and then distributed as they have agreed. If all it takes is a few people giving advice of this type to put your friend off I would say the marriage is off to a fine start.

[Giggsie]

In scotland a will is still valid if made before marriage

[Peter Pedant]

.

they get married and the newly wed with the money makes a new will - other wise he will die intestate

and if they get divorced it is nothing to do with a will.

doesnt everyone do that ?