How does marital status — marriage, separation, divorce — affect your will?

Historically, a later marriage automatically revoked an earlier will unless that will was made in contemplation of the marriage. That rule has been abolished in several provinces — British Columbia, Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and others have updated their legislation at different times — so whether your marriage quietly invalidated your pre-marriage will depends on where and when you married. Always refresh your will at the start of any long-term relationship.

Separation is the trap. Until a divorce order is granted you remain legally married, which means statutory spousal entitlements, matrimonial property rules, and default beneficiary language in your existing will may still run in favour of your estranged spouse. A carefully drafted separation agreement that releases estate rights, paired with an updated will, is the minimum defensible posture for separated testators.

Divorce has a cleansing effect in most provinces — gifts and appointments to an ex-spouse are generally read as if the ex predeceased — but the rule is not universal and does not cover common-law separations. Update beneficiaries on registered plans, life insurance, and pensions separately; those pass outside the will and are not swept by provincial divorce-revocation statutes.