Getting married is one of the most significant legal events of your life — and if you already have a will, you need to know exactly what marriage does (and doesn't) do to it. The short answer to "does marriage void a will" is: it depends on where you live, and the answer has changed meaningfully in recent years. In most of the United States, marriage does not automatically void your existing will — but it can give your new spouse powerful legal rights that effectively reshape how your estate is distributed. In Canada, Ontario made a landmark change on January 1, 2022, abolishing the old rule that marriage automatically revoked a will. Getting the details right matters enormously, because the stakes are your home, your savings, and potentially the guardianship of your children.
The Old Rule: Marriage Revokes Your Will
Historically, many common-law jurisdictions operated on a simple premise: marriage is such a transformative life event that any will written before it should be wiped out. The law assumed you had "forgotten" to update your estate plan for your new spouse, and it stepped in on your behalf — even if that wasn't what you wanted at all.
Previously in Ontario, upon a marriage any will was deemed revoked, unless the will was made in contemplation of that marriage. Similar rules existed across much of the English-speaking world. The practical consequence was stark: if you died shortly after your wedding without having written a new will, your estate would pass under intestacy rules rather than according to your carefully drafted wishes.
The issue with this law was that it could cause an unintended intestacy, especially where the spouses in question were in a conjugal relationship before marriage, prepared wills during that conjugal relationship, and later married thinking that their prior wills remained effective. The rule also created a dangerous vulnerability: the change was partly designed to guard against "predatory marriages," which typically involve a younger individual exploiting a physically or mentally impaired older individual. The older individual may have had capacity to enter into the marriage, thereby revoking their existing will, but not the capacity to execute a new one — leaving the "predator" to benefit from the estate under intestacy.
Ontario's 2022 Reform: A Clean Break
In April 2021, the Ontario Government passed Bill 245, the Accelerating Access to Justice Act, 2021, which includes significant changes to estate law in Ontario. As a result, marriages occurring on or after January 1, 2022 no longer automatically revoke existing wills under Ontario's Succession Law Reform Act.
The marriage of an Ontario resident in 2022 or a subsequent year does not automatically revoke a will signed before the marriage date. It is therefore recommended that you review any will signed before marriage to ensure that it reflects your wishes.
Critically, the change is not retroactive — any wills revoked by marriage prior to 2022 are not cured by the Ontario government's amendments. So if you married before January 1, 2022, and had an existing will at the time, you should speak with an estate lawyer about whether that will was revoked under the old rule.
Ontario's reform also brought a related change on the other end of a marriage: starting January 1, 2022, if a married couple has been separated for at least three years without being legally divorced and one of the spouses dies on or after January 1, 2022, the death triggers the automatic revocation of the appointment of the other spouse as an estate trustee (executor) and/or beneficiary.
If you live elsewhere in Canada, note that Ontario's reform applies specifically to Ontario's Succession Law Reform Act. Rules in other provinces vary — consult a local estate lawyer for province-specific advice.
Does Marriage Void a Will in US States? Spousal Rights, Not Full Revocation
In the United States, the picture is different from Canada's historical approach. A small number of states have traditionally provided that marriage revokes a prior will, but several of those states — including Oregon and Rhode Island — have reformed or significantly narrowed those rules in recent years. Because state laws in this area have been actively changing, you should verify the current statute in your specific state rather than relying on any general summary, including this one. For the vast majority of Americans, getting married does not automatically void, invalidate, or revoke your current will.
What marriage does do in most states is give your new spouse significant legal rights that can override what your will says.
The Omitted (Pretermitted) Spouse
Many states protect a spouse who is not named in a will that was written before the marriage through what are called pretermitted or omitted spouse statutes. The precise number of states with such statutes changes as legislatures act, and any specific count should be verified against current state laws. The Uniform Probate Code (UPC) — adopted in whole or in part by a significant number of states — includes pretermitted spouse provisions that serve as a model for many of these laws. If you live in a UPC state, your state's version of these rules may differ in important details from non-UPC states; your state legislature's website or a local estate attorney is the most reliable source.
When someone has a spouse who is not mentioned in the will at all, that spouse may be legally classified as a pretermitted spouse — meaning the spouse has been omitted. Generally, a spouse is considered pretermitted if you were not married at the time you created your will and you did not include your spouse in the will.
For example, in California, new marriages do not automatically revoke a preexisting will; however, surviving spouses who are not named as a beneficiary in their spouse's will that was created prior to marriage may be considered "omitted spouses," who generally are entitled to the same inheritances under California's intestate succession laws as the surviving spouses of decedents who died without a valid will.
A note on community property states: California, Texas, and other large community property states present a distinct situation. In those states, each spouse already owns an undivided one-half interest in property acquired during the marriage. If a spouse dies with a pre-marriage will that does not account for the new marriage, the omitted spouse analysis applies only to the decedent's separate property and their half of community property — the surviving spouse's own half of community property is not part of the decedent's estate at all. This makes the practical impact of an outdated will different in community property states than in common-law states, and it is one more reason to update your estate plan promptly after marriage.
What Is a "Contemplation of Marriage" Clause?
Many of the exceptions to revocation-by-marriage rules — and some pretermitted spouse defenses — turn on whether a will was made "in contemplation of" the marriage. Legally, this typically means the will must contain express language stating that it is made in anticipation of a specific upcoming marriage, and courts generally require that language to be explicit rather than implied. A will that simply says "I leave everything to my partner Jane" is unlikely to satisfy a contemplation-of-marriage requirement in most jurisdictions; the will usually needs to name the intended spouse and state that the testator is aware of and anticipating the marriage. If you want your existing will to survive your upcoming marriage, consult an estate attorney about how to draft this clause correctly for your jurisdiction — the requirements vary and getting it wrong can mean the clause provides no protection at all.
The Elective Share: Your Spouse's Floor
Even if your will is technically valid and your spouse is not classified as a pretermitted spouse, marriage gives a surviving spouse another powerful tool in most states: the elective share.
To protect spouses from being disinherited, most states give a surviving spouse the right to a spousal or elective share — the legal right to claim a minimum portion of a deceased spouse's estate, overriding contrary testamentary instructions. The percentage varies significantly by state. While a simple range of "one-third to one-half" is often cited, that framing understates the complexity: states that have adopted the UPC use an augmented estate approach in which the elective share percentage increases with the length of the marriage and is calculated against a broader pool of assets than just the probate estate. In practice, the elective share in a UPC state can look very different from a flat percentage applied only to assets passing through the will.
Elective share statutes operate in common-law property states. Georgia is a notable exception — it has no elective share statute. The exact count of states with elective share statutes is a verifiable legal fact that changes as legislatures act; consult your state's current probate code or an estate attorney for the definitive answer in your jurisdiction.
The nine community property states — Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin — generally do not have a traditional elective share, because the surviving spouse already owns half of all community property acquired during the marriage. Wisconsin operates under the Uniform Marital Property Act rather than a traditional community property system, but the practical effect is similar. It is worth noting that some community property states have supplemental protections; Louisiana, for example, has forced heirship rules for certain children rather than for spouses, and the details vary by state. The framing that community property states have "no elective share and therefore no spousal protection" is an oversimplification — the nature of the protection is different, not absent.
The bottom line for US residents: in most states, a surviving spouse has rights to elect against a will, meaning that if you die with a pre-marriage will in place, your spouse would have some rights to your estate even though they are not in the will — but that does not mean they would get the entire estate, only a portion, and there is a process to go through to assert those rights.
A Note on Pre-Obergefell Estate Plans
Same-sex couples who married after the Supreme Court's 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges — or after earlier state-level recognition — may have estate plans drafted before their marriage was legally recognized. Wills written during a period when a couple could not legally marry may not reflect the testator's current wishes, may not use spousal language that triggers statutory protections, and may have been written under legal assumptions that no longer apply. If you or your spouse has a will drafted before your marriage was legally recognized, a review by an estate attorney is especially important.
The Hidden Override: Beneficiary Designations
Here is the piece most people miss entirely when they think about wills and marriage: your will only controls what passes through probate. A large portion of most people's wealth — retirement accounts, life insurance, and certain bank accounts — passes completely outside the will through beneficiary designations.
Beneficiary designations are instructions on specific financial accounts or assets, such as life insurance policies, retirement accounts, and payable-on-death (POD) or transfer-on-death (TOD) accounts, that direct who will receive those assets after death, bypassing probate entirely.
In many cases, beneficiary designations control the distribution of certain assets and typically override a will. Assets that have a named beneficiary, such as retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and certain investment accounts, may pass directly to that individual, regardless of what your will says.
This creates a real trap for newlyweds. Updating your will after a life event without also updating your beneficiary designations leaves the designations in place, ready to override whatever your will says. Imagine you wrote a will before marriage naming your sibling as your beneficiary, then updated the will after the wedding to name your spouse — but forgot to update the beneficiary form on your 401(k). Many people assume that a will can override a beneficiary designation, but this is not the case. If your retirement account lists a former partner as the beneficiary, and your will leaves the account to your spouse, the former partner will still inherit unless the designation is updated.
The same logic applies to revocable living trusts and pour-over wills — estate planning tools many married people have or will need. A revocable living trust holds assets during your lifetime and distributes them at death without going through probate, which means it operates entirely outside your will. If you created a trust before marriage and did not update the trust document or its beneficiary designations after the wedding, your new spouse may have no rights to trust assets at all — even if your will leaves everything to them. Marriage does not automatically update a trust, and in most states it does not revoke one. If you have a revocable living trust, a pour-over will, or both, review those documents with an estate attorney after any major life event, including marriage.
What Happens to Your Children's Guardianship?
A will is the only document where you can formally nominate a guardian for your minor children. If you die without a valid will — or with a will that has been voided by operation of law — a court will decide who raises your children without any guidance from you.
Marriage changes the guardianship calculus significantly. If you and your new spouse are both biological or adoptive parents of your children, the surviving spouse typically becomes the sole guardian automatically. But if you have children from a prior relationship, the situation is more complex: your new spouse has no automatic parental rights over those children, and a court could appoint a guardian you would never have chosen. Naming a guardian explicitly in a properly executed will is the only reliable way to make your wishes known to the court.
Execution Formalities: Your Will Must Be Done Right
A will that is not properly executed is no will at all. Requirements vary by jurisdiction, but in general a valid will must be:
- In writing (handwritten or typed)
- Signed by the testator (the person making the will)
- Witnessed by at least two competent adult witnesses who are present when you sign — and in most jurisdictions, witnesses should not be beneficiaries under the will
Some US states recognize holographic (entirely handwritten and signed) wills without witnesses. Ontario requires two witnesses. Because execution requirements vary and errors can invalidate the entire document, working with a qualified estate lawyer is strongly recommended.
What to Do After You Get Married
Whether you are in Ontario, another Canadian province, or anywhere in the United States, marriage is the right moment to take a fresh look at your entire estate plan. Here is a practical checklist:
- Review your existing will. Even where marriage no longer automatically revokes it (as in Ontario post-2022), your pre-marriage will almost certainly does not reflect your new family structure.
- Update beneficiary designations. Go account by account — 401(k), IRA, RRSP, TFSA, life insurance, bank accounts with POD/TOD designations — and update each form to reflect your intentions.
- Review any revocable living trust or pour-over will. These documents operate outside your will and must be updated separately.
- Name or revisit a guardian. If you have minor children, confirm your will names the guardian you want.
- Name or confirm your executor. Your executor (called an estate trustee in Ontario) is the person who will shepherd your estate through probate. Marriage is a good time to confirm that person is still the right choice.
- Consider how your spouse's elective share rights interact with your plan. If you are a US resident with significant assets you want to direct to children from a prior relationship, talk to an estate attorney about how your state's elective share rules — including whether your state uses the UPC augmented estate approach — apply to your situation.
If you have children and are thinking about how a new marriage affects your broader financial planning, our article on what happens to a prenup when you have children covers related ground worth reading.
Frequently Asked Questions: Does Marriage Void a Will?
Does marriage void a will in California? No. In California, marriage does not automatically revoke a will. However, a spouse who is not named in a will written before the marriage may qualify as an "omitted spouse" and claim an intestate share of the estate under California Probate Code § 21610. California is also a community property state, meaning the surviving spouse already owns half of community property regardless of what the will says.
Does marriage void a will in Ontario? Not for marriages on or after January 1, 2022. Ontario's Succession Law Reform Act was amended by Bill 245 to remove automatic revocation by marriage. For marriages before that date, the old revocation rule may still apply — consult an estate lawyer.
Does marriage void a will in Texas? Generally no. Texas does not automatically revoke a will upon marriage, but Texas is a community property state, and a surviving spouse has rights to their half of community property regardless of the will's terms. Omitted spouse protections may also apply.
Does marriage void a will if it was written "in contemplation of marriage"? In most jurisdictions, a will that expressly states it is made in contemplation of a specific upcoming marriage will survive that marriage and not be revoked by it. The language must typically be explicit — a general reference to a partner is usually not sufficient. Consult an estate attorney to draft this clause correctly for your jurisdiction.
Does marriage void beneficiary designations on retirement accounts or life insurance? No. Marriage has no automatic effect on beneficiary designations. These must be updated separately, and they will override your will regardless of what it says.
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In the meantime, do not let your estate plan sit in limbo. The rules around whether marriage voids a will are jurisdiction-specific and have been actively changing in recent years. State and provincial laws can be amended at any time, and no general article — including this one — can substitute for advice based on the current statutes in your specific jurisdiction. The safest move is always the same: talk to a qualified estate lawyer in your province or state, update your will, and update every beneficiary designation and trust document you own.
This article is for general information only and is not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently; the information above may not reflect the most current statutes in your state or province. Do not rely on this article as a substitute for advice from a qualified attorney licensed in your jurisdiction.