Getting married after you sign a will changes who inherits under it. A void marriage does not.
What a Later Marriage Does to a Will
Marriage, the birth of a child, or an adoption after a will is signed does not throw the whole will out. OCGA 53-4-48(a) revokes the will only to the extent the next subsection provides, and OCGA 53-4-48(c) provides that “the subsequent spouse or child shall receive the share of the estate he or she would have received if the testator had died intestate.” Johnson v. Rogers, 297 Ga. 413 (2015).
So a new spouse who is left out of an old will takes an intestate share out of the residue, and the rest of the will stands.
The Marriage Has to Be Valid
That rule is triggered by a marriage, which means a marriage Georgia recognizes. In Graves v. Carter, 207 Ga. 308 (1950), a woman signed a will in 1945 and went through a marriage ceremony in 1947 with a man whose California divorce was not final. She died days later. Because “a previous undissolved marriage renders void an attempted second marriage,” the Supreme Court of Georgia held the ceremony “was absolutely void” and the will was untouched by it. A later nunc pro tunc divorce decree, backdated by the California court, could not reach back and validate it.
You Can Write Around the Rule Entirely
None of this applies to a will that provides for the event. In Evans v. Palmour, 274 Ga. 283 (2001), a clause reading “I make this will in contemplation of my marriage” was enough, even though the testator did not know his future wife when he signed it seven years earlier. The Court held a contemplation clause need not identify the intended spouse.
Contact Us
This post is a quick overview of the law and is not intended as legal advice. Please feel free to contact our office for a consultation if you have questions about this or any other legal aspects regarding your case!