Wills Act 1837
32.—(1) The Wills Act 1837(1) is amended as follows.
(2) In section 18 (wills revoked by marriage), in subsection (5) (wills not revoked by marriage resulting from conversion), before the “or” at the end of paragraph (a) insert—
“(aa)the conversion of a civil partnership into a marriage under Part 3 of the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Northern Ireland) (No. 2) Regulations 2020;
(ab)the conversion of a civil partnership into a marriage under Part 3 or 4 of the Marriage of Same Sex Couples (Conversion of Civil Partnership) Regulations 2014 where the civil partnership is a convertible Northern Ireland civil partnership as defined by regulation 2 of those Regulations(2);”.
(3) In section 18B (wills revoked by civil partnership)—
(a)in subsection (1), for “(6)” substitute “(7)”, and
(b)after subsection (6) insert—
“(7) Nothing in this section applies in the case of a civil partnership which results from the conversion of a marriage into a civil partnership under Part 3, 4 or 5 of the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Northern Ireland) (No. 2) Regulations 2020.”.
(4) In section 18D(6) (effect on wills of conversion of civil partnership into marriage: meaning of “conversion”), after paragraph (a) insert—
“(aa)the conversion of a civil partnership into a marriage under Part 3 of the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Northern Ireland) (No. 2) Regulations 2020;
(ab)the conversion of a civil partnership into a marriage under Part 3 or 4 of the Marriage of Same Sex Couples (Conversion of Civil Partnership) Regulations 2014 where the civil partnership is a convertible Northern Ireland civil partnership as defined by regulation 2 of those Regulations;”.
(5) After section 18D insert—
“18E. Effect on subsisting will of conversion of marriage into civil partnership
(1) The conversion of a marriage into a civil partnership does not—
(a)revoke any will made by a party to the marriage before the conversion; or
(b)affect any disposition in such a will.
(2) The conversion of a marriage into a civil partnership does not affect any previous application of section 18(2) to (4) to—
(a)a will made by a party to the marriage before the conversion; or
(b)a disposition in such a will.
(3) Subsections (1) and (2) are subject to subsection (4).
(4) Any reference in a will to a marriage or spouses (howsoever expressed) is to be read in relation to any marriage that has been converted into a civil partnership, or a married couple who have converted their marriage into a civil partnership, as referring to that civil partnership or the parties to it, as appropriate.
(5) Subsection (4) is subject to any contrary intention appearing from the will.
(6) In this section “conversion” means—
(a)the conversion of a marriage into a civil partnership under Part 3 of the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Northern Ireland) (No. 2) Regulations 2020; or
(b)the conversion of a marriage into a civil partnership under Part 4 or 5 of those Regulations;
and “converted” is to be read accordingly.”.
1837 c. 26. Section 18 was substituted by the Administration of Justice Act 1982 (c. 53), and repealed (so far as extending to Northern Ireland) by S.I. 1994/1899 (N.I. 13) with effect from 1.1.1995 (see S.R. 1994/372). Section 18(1) was amended, and sections 18(5) and 18D were inserted, by S.I. 2014/3168. Section 18B was inserted by the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (c. 33).
The definition of “convertible Northern Ireland civil partnership” is inserted by regulation 31 of these Regulations.