Overhaul Of Will Laws Targets Divorce and New Technology
People will have their wills revoked automatically on divorce under new laws introduced into State Parliament today.
Attorney General Jim McGinty said current laws were outdated because a will was annulled only when a person married but remained valid when people divorced.
"It is an absurd situation that when couples divorce, a will that may leave property or assets to a former spouse is not cancelled," Mr McGinty said.
"A third of all marriages end in divorce, often acrimoniously, so it is important that people are protected from future and potentially costly legal battles."
The Attorney General said the Wills Amendment Bill 2006 would also make provisions for people who recorded their wills using video and computer technology.
The new laws would expand what was currently constituted as an informal will to include video and electronic copies as well as paper.
"While people should still be encouraged to prepare a formal, written will, some people might only record their wills on video, DVD or on the computer, which at present would not be a valid statement," Mr McGinty said.
"In the absence of a formal, written will the changes will enable a court to validate an informal will which may have been recorded electronically."
Other significant changes made by the Wills Amendment Bill 2006 include:
- Provisions to allow the Supreme Court to make a will on behalf of a person who lacks testamentary capacity; allowing the Supreme Court to rectify a will to give effect to a testator's intention where the will does not do so because of a clerical error or because the will does not give effect to the testator's instructions;
- and privileged wills for members of the armed services will not be retained, as the expanded informal wills provision will extend the concept beyond the battlefield and into the 21st century using modern technology.
Mr McGinty said the changes were based on uniform laws developed by the Standing Committee of Attorney Generals of Australia and would ensure Western Australians had the most up-to-date wills legislation in the nation.
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