Wills Act 2008

The ending of a testator's marriage or the revocation under Part 2 of the Relationships Act 2003 of a deed of relationship registered under that Part to which the testator is a party revokes – any beneficial disposition made by a testator to the testator's spouse in a will in existence at the time the marriage ends or the deed of relationship is revoked; and any appointment of the testator's spouse as an executor, trustee, advisory trustee or guardian made by the will; and any grant made by the will of a power of appointment exercisable by, or in favour of, the testator's spouse.

However, the ending of a testator's marriage or the revocation under Part 2 of the Relationships Act 2003 of a deed of relationship registered under that Part to which the testator is a party does not revoke – the appointment of the testator's spouse as trustee of property left by the will on trust for beneficiaries that include the spouse's children; or the grant of a power of appointment exercisable by the testator's spouse exclusively in favour of the children of whom both the testator and spouse are parents.

With respect to the revocation of any disposition, appointment or grant by this section, the will is to take effect as if the testator's spouse had died before the testator.

Subsection (1) does not apply if a contrary intention appears in the will or can otherwise be established.

For the purposes of this section, a marriage ends – when a decree of dissolution of the marriage becomes absolute under the Family Law Act 1975 of the Commonwealth; or on the granting of a decree of nullity in respect of the marriage by the Family Court of Australia; or on the dissolution or annulment of the marriage in accordance with the law of a place outside Australia, but only if that dissolution or annulment is recognised in Australia under the Family Law Act 1975 of the Commonwealth.

In this section – testator's spouse means the person who – was the testator's spouse immediately before the marriage ended and includes a party to a purported or void marriage; or was a party to a deed of relationship registered under Part 2 of the Relationships Act 2003 to which the testator was also a party immediately before a deed of relationship was revoked under that Part, and includes a party to a purported or void deed or relationship under that Part.