UK Trends and Developments Contributed by: Ros Bever, Claire-Marie Cornford, Helen Clarke and Ashley Hill, Irwin Mitchell
Final Thoughts The Great Wealth Transfer is poised to shake up the private wealth industry, presenting a myriad of chal - lenges. The long-term impact of the recent UK tax changes and proposed reforms remains to be seen, but more than ever it is important to get timely advice that considers the full spectrum of private wealth issues, enabling people to prepare financially for longer lives and changing family relationships. In an evolving and multifaceted context, estate planning that proactively addresses potential disputes, and wealth structuring in the context of divorce, will be of increasing importance.
Currently, when someone enters into a marriage or civil partnership, their will is revoked. The laws of intestacy will therefore apply to the distribution of the estate unless a new will is made. The laws of intestacy determine that all (or a large share) of the deceased’s estate will pass to the spouse. If a new will is made after marriage or civil partnership, this does not nec - essarily solve the problem as the test for capacity to marry is very low, whereas there is a much higher test for testamentary capacity. This means that the vulner - able person may have the capacity to marry or enter into a civil partnership, but may not have the capacity to make a new will afterwards. In this situation, a new will would be invalid after marriage and the intestacy rules would still apply to the distribution of the estate, meaning that the predatory spouse would still benefit from the victim’s estate. The Law Commission’s proposal to reduce predatory marriage is a simple one – to change the law so that a will survives a marriage. This, coupled with the sug - gested reforms to the law of undue influence, should offer more protection to the vulnerable in the future and offer greater protection to their estates on death.
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