Does remarrying affect your existing will?
Yes. Marriage revokes a will made before it (Wills Act 1837, s.18), and forming a civil partnership does the same (s.18B). The exception is a will that shows it was made expecting that particular marriage and was meant to survive it. If you made a will years ago and have since remarried, you may effectively have no will. See does marriage revoke a will?
What happens without a will in a second marriage?
Your spouse comes first. Under the intestacy rules, your husband, wife or civil partner receives your personal possessions, the first £322,000 and half of the rest, and your children share the other half. Stepchildren you did not adopt inherit nothing from you. When your spouse later dies, what they received passes under their will or their intestacy, which favours their own relatives, not your children.
Why can leaving everything to a new spouse disinherit your children?
Because once your estate passes to your spouse, it is theirs, and what happens next is their decision:
- your spouse can change their will at any time, without telling anyone;
- if they remarry, their will is revoked, and their new spouse may inherit under intestacy;
- if they die without a will, stepchildren inherit nothing unless adopted;
- mirror wills do not prevent this, because either person can change theirs later.
This is often called sideways disinheritance. It usually happens without anyone intending it.
What can an online will do in a second marriage?
It can provide for both sides of your family in fixed shares. With SwiftWill you can:
- leave fixed gifts to your children, such as a sum of money or a particular item, which pass to them on your death;
- split the rest of your estate by percentage, for example 60% to your spouse and 40% between your children, with a back-up beneficiary for each share;
- set an inheritance age of 18, 21 or 25 for young beneficiaries; and
- name your executors, for example your spouse together with an adult child.
It cannot give your spouse the use of assets for life while guaranteeing that the capital passes to your children afterwards. That needs a trust.
When does a second marriage need a solicitor?
SwiftWill is not a law firm, and its interview directs you to a solicitor if you want:
- a life interest trust, so your spouse can live in the home or receive income for life while the capital is kept for your children;
- to protect your children's inheritance while providing for your current partner, which is the problem a trust solves;
- inheritance tax planning or any other trust;
- to leave out someone who depends on you: a spouse, children and a stepchild treated as a child of the family can all claim under the Inheritance Act 1975.
See do I need a solicitor for a will?
How does inheritance tax apply to a blended family?
Everything left to a husband, wife or civil partner who lives permanently in the UK is exempt from inheritance tax. Other gifts use the £325,000 threshold, and a home or share left to direct descendants, which includes stepchildren, can add up to £175,000. Unused allowances can pass to the surviving spouse, so a married couple can have up to £1 million between them. Splitting your estate between a spouse and children changes how these allowances are used, so take advice if your estate is near the thresholds.
How do you make a will for a straightforward blended family?
If your plan is fixed shares for your spouse and children, with no trusts, decide the percentages, any fixed gifts and your executors, then start your will. SwiftWill costs £35, or £55 for mirror wills. Your spouse should make their own will too. Then print and sign it in front of two independent witnesses who are present at the same time; see how to sign a will.
Sources
- Wills Act 1837, sections 18 and 18B
- Administration of Estates Act 1925, section 46
- Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, section 1
- GOV.UK: How Inheritance Tax works
- GOV.UK: Check if you can get an additional Inheritance Tax threshold
Sources checked 24 September 2026.