How Does Getting Remarried Affect Your Estate Plan in Alabama?

The Law Offices of Brenton C. McWilliams helps Alabama couples sort through the estate planning side of remarriage — what changes automatically, what doesn’t, and what you’ll want to update so that everyone you love is taken care of.

Remarriage is a fresh start. It’s also one of the biggest events that can quietly throw your existing estate plan out of balance. A will you signed before the wedding may no longer reflect your wishes. Beneficiary designations may favor an ex-spouse. The house deed may be set up in a way that unintentionally disinherits your children.

Here’s what to know — and what to fix — when you get remarried in Alabama.

What Happens to Your Existing Will When You Remarry?

A common assumption is that getting married wipes out an old will. In Alabama, that’s not quite how it works.

Under Alabama Code § 43-8-137, remarriage does not automatically revoke a prior will. Your existing will stays in force unless you replace it. If your old will leaves everything to your children, your new spouse won’t take under the will — but they will likely have rights under Alabama law that override what the will says.

Divorce works differently. Alabama Code § 43-8-137 also provides that divorce or annulment automatically revokes any provision in your will leaving property to your former spouse, naming them as executor, or giving them powers of appointment. We cover that statute in more detail in our post on whether handwritten wills are valid in Alabama.

The takeaway: if you got divorced and then remarried, your old will is partially revoked as to your ex but otherwise intact. That is rarely what people actually want after they remarry.

Your New Spouse Has Rights Even Without a Will Update

Alabama law gives surviving spouses several built-in protections, whether or not your will mentions them. If you don’t update your plan, these rules will fill in the gaps — and the result may surprise you.

Three of the most important spousal rights in Alabama:

• The spousal elective share. A surviving spouse can elect to take a share of the deceased spouse’s estate even if the will leaves them less. Our overview of the spousal elective share in Alabama explains how this works and how it’s calculated.
• The homestead allowance. A surviving spouse is entitled to a homestead allowance from the estate (Ala. Code § 43-8-110).
• Family allowance and exempt property. Additional statutory allowances are available to the surviving spouse during the administration of the estate.

For a remarried person with children from a prior marriage, these statutory rights can mean a significant portion of your estate flows to your new spouse — even if your intent was to leave more to your children. That’s not necessarily a bad outcome, but it should be your decision, not an accident.

The Blended Family Challenge

The hardest part of remarriage planning is balancing two competing goals you probably hold equally:

1. Make sure your new spouse is taken care of after you’re gone, especially if they depend on you financially or live in your home.
2. Make sure your children from a prior marriage actually inherit what you intend to leave them.

Without a plan, Alabama’s intestate statute will divide things in a way most blended families don’t want. As one example, if you die without a will and have a spouse plus children from a prior marriage, the surviving spouse takes the first $100,000 plus half of the rest of the probate estate — and the other half is divided among your children. Whether that result fits your family depends entirely on your circumstances.

Our guide to estate planning for blended families in Alabama walks through this in more depth.

Watch Out for the Survivorship Deed Trap

If you and your new spouse buy a home together — or retitle one of your existing homes into joint names — the way the deed is written matters more than most couples realize.

In Alabama, when a deed is held as joint tenancy with right of survivorship, the property automatically passes to the surviving spouse at the first death. It does not pass through your will, and your children from a prior marriage receive nothing from that property. When the surviving spouse later dies, the entire property typically passes to their children.

That outcome may be exactly what you want — or it may permanently disinherit your kids without your realizing it.

We’ve seen this scenario more times than we can count, and we explain it with a real-world example in our Alabama guide to survivorship deeds. Before you sign that deed, look closely at the survivorship language and decide whether it actually matches your wishes.

Beneficiary Designations Override Your Will

This is the silent estate planning issue that catches the most remarried Alabamians off guard.

Many of your most valuable assets pass outside your will entirely:

• 401(k) and retirement accounts
• IRAs
• Life insurance policies
• Annuities
• Payable-on-death (POD) and transfer-on-death (TOD) accounts

Each of these has a beneficiary designation on file with the institution. Whoever is named on that form receives the asset, regardless of what your will says.

If you signed up for that 401(k) ten years ago and named your first spouse — and then never updated it — your ex may inherit your retirement account no matter what your new will says.

After remarriage, sit down with every account you have and update each beneficiary designation. It is the single most impactful step you can take in an afternoon.

Tools That Work Well for Remarried Couples

There are a handful of estate planning tools that are particularly useful when planning for a second marriage. Which combination is right depends on your family, your assets, and your goals.

• A revocable living trust. A properly designed trust can provide for your spouse during their lifetime while ensuring that what’s left passes to your children at the surviving spouse’s death. Our overview of revocable living trusts explains the basics.
• A QTIP trust. A qualified terminable interest property trust gives your surviving spouse income for life while letting you control where the remaining assets go after they pass.
• A prenuptial or postnuptial agreement. A written agreement can clarify which assets stay separate and which become marital — especially helpful if you each came into the marriage with substantial property or your own children.
• Separate property planning. Alabama is a separate property state, which means assets you owned before the marriage generally remain yours individually. Our post on community property vs. separate property explains how Alabama handles this.
• Updated powers of attorney and healthcare directives. Decide who you want making medical and financial decisions for you if you become incapacitated. Often, but not always, that person is your new spouse.

For a deeper look at when each kind of trust makes sense, see our guide on choosing between a revocable and irrevocable trust.

A Simple Checklist for Updating Your Plan After Remarriage

Use this short list as a starting point in the months after the wedding:

1. Replace your old will with a new one that reflects your current marriage and your wishes for both your spouse and any children.
2. Review every beneficiary designation on retirement accounts, life insurance, and POD/TOD accounts.
3. Look at how every deed in your name is titled — particularly the home you’ll be living in.
4. Update your financial and healthcare powers of attorney to name the right person.
5. Talk openly with your spouse and your adult children about how things will work, so no one is blindsided later.
6. Schedule a review of your full estate plan with an attorney who handles blended family situations.

You don’t have to do all of this in one weekend. But the longer you wait, the more chance there is for an outdated document to govern your estate at the worst possible time.

Plan Today So Your Family Has Clarity Tomorrow

A second marriage is an opportunity to build a plan that takes care of every person you love — your spouse, your children, and any stepchildren you’ve welcomed into your life. With the right documents in place, you can spare your family from confusion and conflict at a time when they’ll already be grieving.

The Law Offices of Brenton C. McWilliams works with remarried couples throughout Baldwin County to build estate plans that reflect the reality of blended families. We listen first, explain in plain English, and help you put a plan in place that actually fits your life.

If you’ve recently remarried — or are about to — call our law firm today to start a conversation about updating your estate plan.