Second Marriages and Risks to the Estate

I'm attaching a link to a really good article about what can happen when a person with children from a first marriage decides to marry again. What I like about the article is that they use the example of a fictional couple and show what could happen in various circumstances. It's an eye-opener. Click on the link below to read this article from lawyers in Ontario.

Second Marriages and Risks to the Estate

Experts say people need marriage contracts

While this article from the Financial Post isn't just about estate planning, it certainly touches on it. Marriage contracts,  or pre-nuptial agreements as they are more widely known, are becoming more common, particularly for second marriages. Click here to read the article.

Marriage makes a will null and void

This recent article from the Financial Post talks about a case in which a man died after two weeks of marriage, and the court held that his will, which was made before his marriage, was void. Instead of his estate going to his only daughter of a previous marriage, almost everything went to the wife of two weeks. The article contains some excellent information about the effect of marriage on wills across Canada. Click here to read it.

5 reasons to get married over 50

This article from About.com Senior Living lists and discusses five good reasons to get married when you and your spouse-to-be are over 50. Click here to read it. It also contains several links that you might find interesting.

Till Death Do You Part

Have you ever wondered why marriage automatically revokes a previously existing Will? Click here to read a brief article from the real/estate blog to find out.

Holy Matrimony! Time to review your will

This is a good reminder to all of you who tied the knot over the summer. Marriage revokes a Will. Time to take a look at it with your new family in mind. Click here to read this Globe & Mail article.

Does getting married always revoke a Will?

As a general rule, getting married voids any Will that you currently have in place. This makes sense, given that once you get married, you have created a new legal responsibility for yourself to look after that spouse financially in your Will.

You can make a Will before getting married and prevent it from being revoked by including a clause in the Will that says it is made in contemplation of marriage to the person you intend to marry. You don't necessarily have to marry that person immediately afterwards, but if you marry anyone else instead, the Will is revoked. For example, if you make a Will in contemplation of marriage to John and then marry Bill, your Will is going to be revoked by the marriage.

Moving in with someone, even if you intend this arrangement to be a common-law marriage, does not revoke your Will. All jurisdictions include common-law spouses in the definition of spouse, but the right doesn't generally arise immediately. Usually there has to be some time spent living together, or a child of the union, before it's considered a common-law arrangement in law. In Alberta, the law of the unique Adult Interdependent Partner, a couple must live together for three years to be considered spouses. Even once a couple has reached that point, the Will is not revoked, but the spouse has the legal right to contest it.

People in common-law relationships are strongly urged to have Wills prepared, and to keep them up to date. Legally married couples should either make new Wills shortly after their wedding, or make Wills in contemplation of marriage before they tie the knot.