What can a will reach, and what passes outside it?
A will governs the estate: what you own in your own name, and your share of anything held as tenants in common. It does not govern assets that pass by their own rules. A property held as joint tenants, most pension death benefits, life policies written in trust and, usually, joint bank accounts. For many homeowners the house is the largest asset, which is why we start with the register rather than the will.
Where the home is held as joint tenants and you want your share to go elsewhere, a severance of joint tenancy converts it to tenants in common, and the will can then deal with your share. Joint tenants or tenants in common explains the difference in full.
| Passes under the will | Passes outside the will |
|---|---|
| Your share of a property held as tenants in common | A property held as joint tenants, to the survivor automatically |
| Savings and investments in your sole name | Joint bank accounts, in most cases |
| Personal possessions and vehicles | Death-in-service benefits and most pension lump sums, paid at the scheme's discretion |
| Business interests, subject to any partnership agreement | Life policies written in trust |
| Anything not otherwise disposed of, the residue | Assets already given away in your lifetime |
| A property in your sole name | Assets held in a trust you set up earlier |
Does marriage or divorce cancel a will?
Marriage revokes an earlier will under section 18 of the Wills Act 1837, and forming a civil partnership does the same under section 18B, unless it appears from the will itself both that the person making it was expecting to marry or form a civil partnership with that particular person and that the will was not to be revoked by it (checked 20 September 2026). A marriage that results from converting an existing civil partnership does not revoke the will at all. A will made before a wedding can be cancelled by it, leaving the maker intestate.
Divorce or dissolution does not revoke the will, but a final order means the former spouse is treated as having died before you: any gift to them fails and their appointment as executor or trustee lapses, unless a contrary intention appears by the will, under section 18A of the Wills Act 1837, with section 18C for a civil partnership (checked 20 September 2026). If no substitute was named, the will may have gaps. Separation without a final order changes nothing, which is why a new will should be made as soon as a relationship ends, not when the paperwork completes.
How must a will be signed to be valid?
Section 9 of the Wills Act 1837 requires the will to be in writing, signed by you (or by someone at your direction, in your presence), with two witnesses present at the same time who then each sign in your presence. A gift to a witness, or to that witness's husband, wife or civil partner at the time the will is signed, is void as against that person, under section 15 of the Wills Act 1837 read with paragraph 3 of Schedule 4 to the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (checked 19 September 2026). The will itself stays valid and the rest of it takes effect. Section 1 of the Wills Act 1968 can save the gift, but only where a third, disinterested witness also signed, so that the will was properly executed without the interested one; where only the usual two witnesses signed, it cannot. It is a mistake a home-made will can make, and it comes to light only after the death. So we give written signing instructions with every draft.