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An old will does not automatically become invalid just because of the passage of time. There is no "expiry date" in English law — a will written forty years ago is perfectly capable of being the legally operative document governing an estate today, provided it was properly executed and has not been revoked. However, old wills carry particular risks that executors must check for before proceeding. For a full introduction to the probate process once you have confirmed the will, see our executor first steps guide.
The Wills Act 1837 does not impose any time limit on a will's validity. A will remains operative until it is revoked, either expressly (by the testator making a new will or formally destroying the old one) or by operation of law (principally, by marriage — see below).
In practice, it is not unusual to administer an estate where the will was made twenty or thirty years before the death. The will may contain names, addresses, and references that are out of date — but if it was properly signed and witnessed, it is legally valid.
The Probate Registry does not refuse to admit a will simply because of its age. What the Registry checks is whether the will was formally valid when it was made — not when it was made relative to the date of death.
Under section 18 of the Wills Act 1837, marriage or civil partnership automatically revokes a will made before that marriage. This is one of the most common reasons why an apparently valid old will turns out to be ineffective. Section 18 extends to England, Wales and Northern Ireland only. It does not extend to Scotland, where marriage does not of itself revoke a will. Scottish succession law is separate and the position there has to be checked against Scottish sources.
Example: the deceased made a will in 2005. They married in 2010. The 2005 will is automatically revoked by the marriage and has no legal effect. If they did not make a new will after the marriage, the estate passes under intestacy.
The only exception is a will that was made in contemplation of a specific marriage — where the will expressly states that it is made in contemplation of the forthcoming marriage to a named person. Such a will is not revoked by that marriage.
Always check the deceased's marital history. If they married after making the will you have found, the will is very likely revoked. If there is no valid will, the estate passes under the intestacy rules.
A later validly executed will expressly or impliedly revokes an earlier one. Most professionally drafted wills begin with a revocation clause: "I revoke all former wills and testamentary dispositions made by me." If a later will is found, it supersedes the earlier one.
This is why, if you have found a will, you must search for any more recent will before relying on what you have found. See our guide to finding the will and multiple wills: which is valid.
A will can be revoked by the testator burning, tearing, or otherwise destroying it, provided they intended to revoke it. If the only copy of the will has been deliberately destroyed, it is revoked. If the will is damaged but not destroyed, questions arise about whether the damage was intentional or accidental.
Divorce or dissolution of a civil partnership does not revoke a will. The operative provision is section 18A of the Wills Act 1837 (inserted by the Administration of Justice Act 1982 and amended by the Law Reform (Succession) Act 1995 for deaths on or after 1 January 1996). Where a court in England and Wales dissolves or annuls the marriage, the will takes effect as if the former spouse had died on that date — so a gift to them fails, and any appointment of them as executor or trustee takes effect as if they had died. Section 18C makes equivalent provision for the dissolution or annulment of a civil partnership. In each case the rule gives way to a contrary intention appearing in the will.
Section 18A extends to England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Scotland has its own succession law and the position there should be checked separately.
This can create significant problems where the will left everything to the spouse and made no alternative provision — the residue of the estate passes under partial intestacy, even though there is a valid will. If the deceased divorced after making their will, check what the will provides and what happens to those provisions now.
Even where an old will is legally valid, it may create practical difficulties:
If the executor named in the will has died, the will may name a substitute (a "substituted executor") who can apply instead. If it does not, the grant taken out is letters of administration with the will annexed, and the residuary beneficiary is first in line to apply. This is dealt with in the probate application.
If a beneficiary named in the will died before the testator, the gift to them generally fails — it "lapses". The failed gift usually falls into the residuary estate. However, there is an important exception under section 33 of the Wills Act 1837 — see below.
The will may refer to specific assets — a particular property, a specific bank account, or shares in a named company — that no longer exist. The general rule is that a specific gift in the will fails ("adeems") if the asset no longer forms part of the estate. The beneficiary gets nothing — they cannot instead receive the proceeds of the sale of that asset.
Many older wills contain nil-rate band discretionary trusts — a popular estate planning device of the 1990s and 2000s, before the transferable nil-rate band was introduced in 2007. These provisions may no longer be necessary or may even cause complications. For background on how IHT thresholds work today, see our guide to inheritance tax basics. An old will containing a nil-rate band discretionary trust is explained in our nil rate band discretionary trust guide.
Old wills may refer to people by former names (a beneficiary who has since married and changed their name, for example) or by addresses that are decades out of date. These are practical issues — not validity issues — but they may require additional steps to identify the correct person.
Under section 33 of the Wills Act 1837, where a will leaves a gift to a child or remoter descendant of the testator, and that child predeceases the testator, the gift does not automatically fail. Instead, it passes to that beneficiary's issue living at the testator's death — the testator's grandchildren, and remoter descendants in their place — unless a contrary intention appears by the will. Like section 18, section 33 extends to England, Wales and Northern Ireland and not to Scotland.
This anti-lapse provision only applies to gifts to the testator's own children and remoter descendants — it does not apply to gifts to other relatives or friends.
In an old will, section 33 can have significant and sometimes unexpected effects. If a beneficiary named in an old will has predeceased and had children of their own, those children may be entitled to the gift under section 33.
Before relying on an old will, carry out a thorough search for any more recent document:
If you have verified that an old will is the most recent valid will and has not been revoked, it can be submitted to the Probate Registry in the normal way. There is no special process for old wills — the Registry simply checks that the will meets the formal requirements of the Wills Act 1837.
However, the Probate Registry may ask questions if:
In these circumstances, the Registry may require an affidavit from a witness confirming the execution, or other evidence to support the application. If the will appears to have been deliberately destroyed, this raises the question of whether the estate passes under the intestacy rules instead. The Probate Registry decides whether a will is admitted, and will say what evidence it needs.
See our guide to the PA1P and PA1A probate application forms for the full application process, and our guide to how to check if a will is valid for the formal requirements checklist.
No. There is no expiry period for a will in England and Wales. A will remains valid indefinitely until it is revoked — whether by a later will, by the testator's marriage, or by deliberate destruction. The age of a will does not affect its legal validity.
Divorce does not revoke a will, but it does cause gifts to the former spouse to lapse, and it removes the former spouse from any executor appointment. If the will left everything to the ex-spouse with no alternative provision, and the couple divorced, the residue of the estate would pass under the intestacy rules. If the deceased remarried after the divorce, the remarriage may have revoked the old will entirely.
If the sole named executor has died, the will usually names a substitute executor or provides for who should apply in those circumstances. If it does not, the residuary beneficiary can apply to administer the estate. The Probate Registry has an established process for dealing with executor renunciation and succession, and the application form asks for the information it needs.
Whether the gift fails or passes on depends on the circumstances. If the deceased beneficiary was a child of the testator, section 33 of the Wills Act 1837 may cause the gift to pass to that child's own children. For other beneficiaries, the gift generally lapses and falls into the residuary estate. Check the will carefully for any "gift over" provision — a clause providing for who gets the gift if the primary beneficiary has already died.
No. The probate application process is the same regardless of the age of the will. You submit the original will with the PA1P form (or PA1A if there is no will, though that would not apply here) and the required fees. The Probate Registry will assess the will in the usual way. If they have questions about execution or revocation, they will correspond with you. See our complete guide to applying for probate.