Civil Partnership Act - Revocation of Wills

29 September 2005

The Civil Partnership Act comes into force on 5th December 2004. Under this new act same sex couples will be able to register their relationships and acquire rights and responsibilities akin to a married heterosexual couple.

Once the relationship has been formally registered, any pre-existing Will of either party will, in most cases, be revoked in its entirety. This can obviously have very severe consequences if the situation is not remedied. In this case the situation is as if no will had ever been made. If a person dies without leaving a Will he is said to die ‘Intestate’. This means his estate would pass in accordance with the statutory rules on Intestacy and not in accordance with his wishes. The rules on Intestacy are very strict and limit the amount of inheritance a partner might receive, but are easily avoided by the preparation of an efficient Will.

A testator contemplating entering into a civil partnership will be able to avoid his Will being revoked by making a codicil to revive the Will. This is a relatively straight forward and inexpensive procedure. Where a person already has a Will and is soon entering into a civil partnership, a complete review of the couple’s affairs would be a good idea and new Wills may be advisable.

A testator considering entering to a civil partnership when he makes his Will can state in the Will that it is made in “contemplation of the civil partnership”. In this instance the Will would not be revoked by the later registration procedure.

A Will is a very important document and should be reviewed regularly to ensure it remains up to date and is as efficient as it is intended to be.

For more information please contact Nicola Rostron, Associate.
 

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