The family home, death and divorce.

A death during a divorce can significantly impact the family home and financial arrangements in the following ways.

If the family home is owned as joint tenants and one of the couple dies before a divorce is complete, their share of the property will automatically pass to the surviving spouse. To avoid this from happening it is important that the joint tenancy is severed at the start of the divorce proceedings.

If a spouse dies before the Final Order of divorce, proceedings end, and the surviving spouse is treated as a widow or widower. The status of financial settlements depend on whether a Final order in the divorce was made.

It is therefore important to update Wills during separation or divorce. This ensures assets are distributed according to the change of circumstances and current wishes