A will is a legal document that provides how the estate of a person will be disposed upon his death. The will can contain disposition of the assets to a specific person, donations to charitable institutions, trusts, and specific instructions like funeral arrangements, payment of debts or care of certain persons.
A will remains valid until it is revoked by the testator or by operation of law. Divorce, by operation of law, can cause the automatic revocation of some parts of the will and in Tasmania, the entire will itself is revoked.
A person becomes divorced one month and one day after the court issues a divorce order. However, before applying for a divorce, the applicant must consider the effect of the divorce upon his will. It is recommended that when a person seeks legal advice for divorce, he will also include asking how the divorce will affect his will.
The effect of divorce on a will is governed by the different laws of the states and territories in Australia. However, there are certain common effects concerning Queensland, ACT, South Australia, New South Wales and Northern Territory.
The following are the said common effects:
There is still a glimmer of hope for former spouses who want to claim that the divorce has revoked a provision, gift, trust, legacy, or power of appointment in their favour. They can still prove to the Court that despite the divorce the testator intended for the former spouse to have a share of his estate.
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