Revocation and alteration of wills — SQE1 Wills question
A worked single-best-answer question on revocation and alteration of wills, with why each wrong option is wrong — the way SQE1 traps candidates.
In 2020 Mateo made a will leaving his whole estate to his partner, Jess, and appointing her as his executor. The will says nothing about any future marriage. In 2024 Mateo and Jess married. Mateo died last month without having made a new will. He is survived by Jess and by a son from an earlier relationship.
What is the effect of Mateo's marriage on the 2020 will?
- AThe will remains valid, because Mateo married the person who was already the main beneficiary under it.
- BThe will was revoked by the marriage, so Mateo's estate passes under the intestacy rules.
- COnly the gift to Jess is revoked by the marriage; the appointment of the executor survives.
- DThe will is revoked only if Jess elects to take her entitlement under the intestacy rules instead.
- EThe will remains valid, because a will can be revoked only by a later will or by its destruction.
Show answer and reasoning
Rule: A will is revoked by the testator's later marriage unless it appears from the will that it was made in expectation of marriage to a particular person and was intended not to be revoked by it.
- A Marrying the beneficiary is not enough; the will itself must show that it was made in expectation of that marriage and was intended to survive it. (wrong rule)
- C Revocation under s 18(1) is of the whole will unless s 18(3) or (4) applies, which it does not here. (wrong rule)
- D There is no election; revocation by marriage operates automatically. (wrong rule)
- E Section 18 is an additional method of revocation alongside a later will or destruction under s 20. (wrong rule)
Source: Wills Act 1837, s 18(1) and (3)
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