Updating Your Will After Divorce
Many people assume that getting divorced automatically clears their former spouse out of their will. In Ireland, it does not. Unless you take the deliberate step of making a new will, an old one can remain fully valid, and a former spouse can still inherit exactly as the document says.
Our wills & probate team regularly meets clients who are surprised by this, often because they have heard how divorce works in other countries and assumed the same rule applies here. It does not, and the gap can be a costly one to leave unaddressed.
Marriage changes a will. Divorce does not.
Under section 85 of the Succession Act 1965, getting married automatically revokes any earlier will you made, unless that will was drafted in contemplation of the marriage. There is no equivalent provision for divorce. A will made during your marriage stays in force after the decree is granted, gift by gift, exactly as you wrote it, including any appointment of your former spouse as executor.
What divorce does change
Divorce does alter your former spouse’s automatic entitlements under succession law, even though it leaves your will untouched.
Once a decree of divorce is granted, your former spouse’s succession rights, including the legal right share and any entitlement on intestacy, come to an end. However, a former spouse can still apply to court under section 18 of the Family Law (Divorce) Act 1996 for provision out of your estate, provided the application is made within six months of a grant of representation, and the former spouse has not remarried. The court can block this possibility at the time of divorce, or at any point afterwards, by making an order that neither party may bring such a claim.
Judicial separation is treated differently again. Living apart, even for many years, does not by itself end succession rights. Those rights are only extinguished where the court makes a specific order to that effect, or the couple agree to renounce them in a separation agreement. Without one of those steps, a separated spouse can remain a full legal heir.
Do not wait for the decree
Separation and divorce proceedings can run for a long time, and your existing will remains fully effective throughout. If you were to die before the process concludes, a spouse from whom you are separated, and from whom you may be entirely estranged, could still inherit under an old will or take a legal right share.
For that reason, we generally advise reviewing your will as soon as a marriage breaks down, rather than waiting until proceedings finish. A new will can always be revised again once the divorce is finalised, but there is little value in leaving an outdated one in place for months, or years, in the meantime.
What to review when updating your will
A divorce is a natural point to look at the whole document afresh, not only the parts that mention your former spouse. Matters worth checking include:
Beneficiaries. Decide whether any gift to your former spouse should be removed, reduced, or kept, and consider how the rest of the estate should then be divided.
Executors. If your former spouse was named as executor or as an alternate, appoint someone else in that role.
Guardians. Where you have children under eighteen, review who you have named as their testamentary guardian in the event that you and your former spouse both die.
Trustees. If your will sets up a trust for children or other beneficiaries, check who is appointed to manage it.
Powers of attorney. An enduring power of attorney naming your former spouse is a separate document from your will and needs to be reviewed and, usually, replaced.
Pensions and life assurance. Nomination or expression of wish forms held by your pension provider or insurer sit outside your will entirely and must be updated directly with the provider.
A word on timing and remarriage
If you go on to remarry, remember that the new marriage will, once again, automatically revoke your will under section 85, unless it was made in contemplation of that marriage. Anyone who separates, divorces, and later remarries may therefore need to visit this question more than once, and it is worth mentioning a future marriage to your solicitor even if no date is set.
Source: McCarthy & Co Solicitors LLP, September 15th 2026.