Estate Planning After Divorce UK (2026): The Complete Checklist for Updating Your Will, LPA, and Pensions

Divorce has a specific but limited automatic effect on a will under the Wills Act 1837 s.18A. It does NOT revoke the entire will — only the former spouse's gifts and appointments are treated as lapsed: (1) WHAT IS AUTOMATICALLY REVOKED ON DECREE ABSOLUTE (OR FINAL ORDER): (a) Any gift in the will to the former spouse: the gift lapses on divorce as if the former spouse had died on the date of the divorce (decree absolute / final order). The gift falls back into residue or passes under the substitution clause; (b) The appointment of the former spouse as executor: the executor appointment is revoked — the former spouse cannot act as executor; (c) The appointment of the former spouse as trustee: any trustee appointment is similarly revoked; (d) Any power of appointment granted to the former spouse; (2) WHAT IS NOT REVOKED — CRITICAL: the rest of the will remains valid. If the will leaves everything to the former spouse and then 'if they predecease me, to my children', on divorce: the gift to the former spouse lapses; the gift to the children takes effect as if the spouse had died on the divorce date. This is often what the testator would have wanted — but only if there is a substitution clause. If there is no substitution clause and the gift lapses into residue, the residue rules apply — which may produce unexpected results; (3) NO EXECUTOR APPOINTED: if the former spouse was the only executor named, and the executor appointment is revoked, the will has no surviving executor. This does not invalidate the will — the court will grant letters of administration with will annexed to a suitable person (usually the main beneficiary); (4) SEPARATION — THE DANGER ZONE: s.18A applies only on decree absolute/final order, NOT on separation. During the separation period (which can last years) and throughout the divorce proceedings, the will continues in full force — including all gifts to the spouse and all appointments. If you die before the divorce is finalised, your spouse inherits exactly as the will provides. Update the will immediately on separation; (5) COHABITATION AFTER DIVORCE: if ex-spouses resume cohabitation without remarrying, this does not reinstate their status as testamentary beneficiaries — they remain legally divorced and the revocation of gifts stands unless the will is remade.

Yes — divorce (decree absolute/final order) automatically revokes a spouse's appointment as attorney under a Lasting Power of Attorney in most circumstances. This is a frequently overlooked consequence of divorce with significant practical implications: (1) MCA 2005 S.13(11) AND THE MATRIMONIAL CAUSES ACT INTERACTION: where the donor and the attorney are spouses or civil partners and the marriage or civil partnership is dissolved, the LPA terminates to the extent that the former spouse is named as attorney. This applies to both types of LPA: Property and Financial Affairs LPA (LP1F) and Health and Welfare LPA (LP1H); (2) REPLACEMENT ATTORNEYS: if the LPA named a replacement attorney alongside the former spouse, the replacement attorney steps up after the divorce revokes the former spouse's appointment — provided the LPA conditions allow this; (3) THE PRACTICAL RISK — PERIOD BEFORE DIVORCE: as with wills, the LPA remains in full force during separation. If you lose capacity while separated (but not yet divorced), your estranged spouse remains your attorney with full access to your finances and decision-making over your healthcare. This is a compelling reason to update the LPA immediately on separation — not on divorce; (4) SOLE ATTORNEY REVOKED = NO ATTORNEY: if the former spouse was the only attorney named in the LPA, and that appointment is revoked by the divorce, you have no surviving attorney. The registered LPA becomes effectively redundant — no one has authority to act. If you then lose capacity, a Court of Protection deputyship application will be needed again; (5) WHAT TO DO: make two new LPAs (P&FA and H&W) immediately after separation, naming a new attorney. Cancel the old registered LPAs with the OPG by sending LP013 (LPA cancellation form). Do not rely on the old LPAs even if the divorce has not yet been finalised; (6) THE REGISTRATION PERIOD: a new LPA takes 8–20 weeks to register. Do not delay — there is a window of vulnerability between starting the new LPA and registration completing, during which no attorney has authority.

Yes — this is one of the most commonly neglected tasks after divorce and can have very significant financial consequences: (1) PENSION NOMINATIONS ARE NOT AUTOMATICALLY REVOKED BY DIVORCE: unlike a will (where divorce revokes gifts to the former spouse) and an LPA (where divorce revokes attorney appointments), DC pension death benefit nominations are NOT automatically revoked on divorce. The expression of wishes form continues in force as originally completed. If you die after divorce and your expression of wishes still names your former spouse, the scheme trustees will consider the nomination — and may well pay the death benefit to the former spouse; (2) DC PENSION TRUSTEES EXERCISE DISCRETION: DC pension death benefits (typically a lump sum of the fund value plus any death in service element) are paid at the trustees' discretion — they are not bound by the nomination. They must consider it seriously (Re Clarke's Will Trusts; Re Greenwood) but they can and sometimes do override it. However, an outdated nomination naming an ex-spouse creates ambiguity and potential conflict. Update it; (3) DB PENSION SCHEMES — SPOUSE'S PENSION: final salary (DB) pension schemes typically pay a spouse's pension to the deceased member's surviving spouse. On divorce, a pension sharing order or offsetting may have divided the DB pension as part of the financial settlement — check the order. Post-divorce, if no pension sharing order was made, the ex-spouse has no continuing right to a survivor's pension (they are no longer the deceased's spouse); (4) UPDATE EVERY PENSION SCHEME: most people have multiple pension pots from different employers. Every scheme has its own expression of wishes form. Update all of them. It takes 10 minutes per scheme; (5) DEATH IN SERVICE BENEFITS: employer death in service (typically a multiple of annual salary paid as a lump sum) is similarly discretionary. Update the nomination form through HR immediately after divorce and after any new relationship begins.

Divorce requires a systematic review of every element of an estate plan. In priority order: (1) IMMEDIATE — ON SEPARATION (NOT DIVORCE): (a) Make a new will: remove the former spouse as beneficiary, executor, guardian; appoint a trusted friend or family member as executor; consider guardianship for any minor children; review the residue clause; if children are minor, consider a will trust; (b) Make two new LPAs: Property & Financial Affairs (LP1F) and Health & Welfare (LP1H); revoke the old registered LPAs via LP013 (OPG Cancellation form); name a new attorney — trusted friend, parent, sibling, or professional; (c) Update pension nominations: every DC pension scheme; every expression of wishes form; contact HR for death-in-service nomination; (2) ON DECREE ABSOLUTE / FINAL ORDER: (a) Update life insurance: change the named beneficiary on any life insurance policy. If the policy is in trust and names the former spouse as beneficiary under the trust deed, amend the trust deed with the insurer's consent; (b) Review any joint trusts: if you are a trustee of a trust created jointly with the former spouse (e.g. a children's bare trust), consider whether new trustees should be appointed; (c) Check property title: if you were joint tenants with the former spouse, serve a Notice of Severance (Land Registry Form SEV) to convert to tenants in common — then your will controls your share rather than the right of survivorship passing your share to the ex-spouse automatically; (d) Update bank account beneficiary designations if any (some banks allow 'payable on death' nominations); (e) Review any jointly held investments and ISAs; (3) RNRB AFTER DIVORCE: the Residence Nil-Rate Band (£175,000/person) can still apply after divorce if the home is left to direct descendants. A divorced person can use the full RNRB (£175,000) plus the NRB (£325,000) = £500,000 before IHT; (4) AFTER REMARRIAGE OR NEW RELATIONSHIP: (a) Marriage after divorce revokes the new will (Wills Act 1837 s.18) — make a new will immediately after remarriage; (b) Make new LPAs naming the new partner (if appropriate); (c) Update pension nominations and life insurance again. (5) FINANCIAL REMEDY ORDER AND ESTATE INTERACTION: ensure your estate plan is consistent with any court financial order. If the order creates ongoing obligations (e.g. periodical payments to a former spouse contingent on their not remarrying), consider what happens to those obligations if you die — they bind your estate; a life insurance policy in a suitable amount to discharge the obligation should be maintained.

Death during divorce proceedings — before decree absolute/final order — has significant consequences for the estate because the parties are still legally married: (1) THE WILL: if the dying party has a will that was made during the marriage and leaves assets to the spouse, the will remains valid in full. Divorce has not yet occurred and s.18A WA 1837 (revocation of gifts to divorced spouse) does not apply. The spouse inherits exactly as the will provides. If the will was not updated after separation, the estranged spouse may inherit the entire estate; (2) INTESTACY: if the dying party has no will and dies intestate during divorce proceedings, the intestacy rules apply. As the parties are still married, the surviving spouse takes: all personal chattels; statutory legacy of £322,000 (SI 2023/1416); 50% of residue. Children take the other 50% of residue; (3) THE LPA: the LPA to the estranged spouse remains valid until death. As death ends the LPA, this is not usually a practical issue — but if the person was incapacitated for a period before death, the estranged spouse had full attorney powers during that period; (4) PENSION NOMINATIONS: expressions of wishes still name the estranged spouse. Trustees can exercise their discretion — but the nomination is still valid and carries weight; (5) INHERITANCE ACT 1975 CLAIM: if the estate plan is updated after separation but before decree absolute (e.g. a new will removing the spouse), the estranged spouse may have an Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 claim — a surviving spouse (even estranged) has an absolute right to 'reasonable financial provision' from the estate, assessed on more generous grounds than other claimants. Any estate plan update during proceedings should account for potential IPFDA 1975 claims; (6) THE LESSON: update the will and LPA on separation — not on decree absolute. Even if the update makes the estate plan vulnerable to an Inheritance Act 1975 claim, the alternative (leaving everything to the estranged spouse by default) is usually far worse.