Does Getting Married Affect Your Will? Ontario's 2022 Change, Intestacy and Beneficiaries

In Ontario, getting married no longer cancels an existing will. Since 1 January 2022, the Succession Law Reform Act's rule that marriage revokes a will has been repealed, so a will you made while single still applies after the wedding, even if it leaves everything to a parent, sibling or former partner. A will is now revoked only by a later will, a written revocation signed like a will, or destroying it with intent. If you have no will, intestacy rules give a married spouse the first $350,000 and a share of the rest, but a common-law partner gets nothing under those rules. After the wedding, make or update your will, check beneficiary designations, and set up powers of attorney.

Provincial rules differ

Wills and estates are provincial law, so the effect of marriage on a will depends on where you live. This guide uses Ontario's Succession Law Reform Act. If you live elsewhere, check your province's legislation or ask a lawyer whether marriage revokes a will there, because the answer is not the same everywhere.

Ontario's 2022 change

Section 17(1) also says a will is not revoked by a presumed intention because circumstances change. In practice, that means you have to act yourself: a will that names someone other than your spouse keeps working until you replace it.

Divorce and separation

Section 17(2) says that when a marriage ends by divorce or is declared a nullity, gifts to the former spouse, their appointment as executor or trustee, and powers of appointment given to them are revoked, and the will is read as if the former spouse had died first, unless the will shows a contrary intention. Since 2022, sections 17(3) and (4) apply the same treatment if the spouses are separated at the time of death, which means they were living apart because the marriage broke down and, before death, had lived apart for three years immediately before death, signed a valid separation agreement, obtained a court order, or received a family arbitration award settling their affairs.

If you die without a will

The $350,000 preferential share is set by Ontario Regulation 54/95 for deaths on or after 1 March 2021. For these intestacy rules, spouse has the Family Law Act section 1 meaning, which covers married spouses, so a common-law partner has no automatic share. Section 43.1 says the intestacy entitlements do not apply to spouses who are separated at death under the same tests.

The surviving spouse's election

Under section 6 of the Family Law Act, when a married spouse dies with a will, the surviving spouse chooses either what the will gives them or an equalization entitlement under section 5, which is half the amount by which the deceased's net family property exceeds the survivor's. The election must be filed with the Estate Registrar for Ontario within six months after the death. A will that leaves little to a spouse may therefore be partly overridden; a lawyer can explain how this interacts with your plans.

Beneficiary designations

Registered plans and insurance often pass by beneficiary designation, outside the will. Ontario Regulation 54/95 makes TFSAs prescribed plans for designations under the Act. The CRA explains that a survivor named as successor holder of a TFSA becomes the new holder immediately on death, and the account stays tax-sheltered. Check every designation after the wedding: RRSP, RRIF, TFSA, FHSA, workplace pension, group life and personal life insurance. An old designation naming a parent or former partner stays in place until you change it.

Updating your will

1. List assets, debts, accounts and designations.
2. Decide who gets what, and who will be executor.
3. Name guardians if you have or plan children.
4. Consider whether a marriage contract affects your plan; see marriage contracts.
5. Sign a new will that meets Ontario's formal requirements, which revokes earlier wills if it says so.
6. Store it safely and tell your executor where it is.

Powers of attorney

A will only works after death. Powers of attorney for property and personal care cover decisions if you cannot make them yourself while alive. Marriage does not automatically make your spouse your attorney, so if you want your spouse to act, name them. Review these documents at the same time as your will.

Example with made-up inputs

These numbers are an example with made-up inputs, apart from the $350,000 preferential share. Jordan marries Riley in 2026 and has a 2019 will leaving everything to Jordan's sister. Jordan dies in 2027 with an estate of $500,000 and no children. Because marriage no longer revokes the will, the sister is named as beneficiary, and Riley's options run through the Family Law Act election or other claims. If Jordan had no will, Riley, as a married spouse with no issue involved, would receive the full $500,000 under section 44. If Jordan and Riley also had one child and no will, Riley would receive $350,000 plus half of the remaining $150,000, $425,000, and the child $75,000.

Checklist

• Read your current will after the wedding.
• Make a new will if it does not reflect your marriage.
• Update every beneficiary designation.
• Name a TFSA successor holder where allowed.
• Sign powers of attorney.
• Review again after children, a home purchase or a separation.

Related: merging finances and funeral costs and the CPP death benefit.