‘in
contemplation
of
marriage’
S
ection 18 of the Wills Act 1987
(as substituted by s18(1) of the
Administration of Justice Act
1982) states that the marriage or civil
partnership of a Testator automatically
revokes any will that was made before
that marriage. The ‘in contemplation of
marriage’ clause is an exception to this
rule, and means that if a Testator expects
to be married to a certain person at the
time the will is executed) then that will
shall not be revoked when the Testator
does eventually marry.
This exception will be effective provided
that two conditions are met. The first
condition is that the testator must have
been expecting to be married or to form a
civil partnership with a particular person
at the time that the will is executed. It
is not enough for the testator to simply
state that he or she expects to marry
in general. This was expressed in the
case of In Re Coleman (deceased)
[1975] 1 All ER 675. In this case the
testator had made certain bequests
‘unto my fiancée Mrs Muriel Jeffrey’
whom he later married. The court
held that the use of the word ‘fiancé’
6
The Society of Will Writers
or ‘fiancée’ would normally express a
sufficient contemplation of marriage to
that person.
The second condition is that it must
appear from the will that the Testator
intended that the will should not be
revoked by the marriage or formation
of a civil partnership. It is therefore
preferable for these wishes be included
in writing within the will. For example,
a suitable clause to be written into the
will would be: “At the time of making
this will, I expect to be married to (insert
name) and intend that this my will shall
not be revoked by my marriage to the
said (insert name)”. If marriage or civil
partnership takes place to any person
other than the person stated in the will,
then that will shall be revoked.
The clause should really only be
considered temporary as there is
always a risk that a relationship may
break down and a Testators wishes will
therefore change. After marriage or civil
partnership has taken place it is often
desirable (but not essential) to redraft
a will, in order to reflect a couples new
status.