Update Your Will After Divorce in Tasmania: Wills Act 2008 & Partial Intestacy
Many people assume that getting divorced automatically cancels their will. In Tasmania, that assumption can hand your estate to the wrong people — or worse, hand your ex-spouse authority over your medical decisions while you're alive.
What Divorce Actually Does to Your Will
Under Section 17 of the Wills Act 2008 (TAS), a finalised divorce order does not revoke your entire will. It revokes only the specific provisions that name your former spouse — gifts to them, appointments as executor, and any powers of appointment they held under the will.
Everything else in the will stands exactly as written.
The Partial Intestacy Trap
Here's where it gets dangerous. If your ex-spouse was your primary beneficiary and your will doesn't name substitutes for those revoked provisions, those portions of your estate fall into partial intestacy. That means the government's default distribution rules apply to everything your will no longer covers.
Under Tasmanian intestacy rules, the distribution hierarchy may send assets to relatives you had no intention of benefiting — or, if you have minor children from a subsequent relationship, create complications with guardianship and trust arrangements you never planned for.
The fix is a new will. Not an amendment, not a codicil — a properly drafted replacement will that names your actual intended beneficiaries and a new executor.
Separation Is More Dangerous Than Divorce
During separation — even a lengthy one — your existing will remains 100% valid under Tasmanian law. The Wills Act 2008 only triggers automatic revocation on divorce, not on separation.
If you die while separated but not yet divorced, your estranged spouse inherits everything you left them in your will. They can also serve as your executor, managing the entire administration of your estate. If you have a new partner, they receive nothing unless they're named in the will or successfully bring a family provision claim.
This is why estate planning shouldn't wait until the divorce is finalised. Update your will as soon as you separate.
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Enduring Powers of Attorney and Guardianship
Divorce does not automatically revoke an Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) or Enduring Guardianship (EG) in Tasmania. If you appointed your spouse under either instrument, they retain full legal authority to manage your finances (EPA) or make medical and lifestyle decisions on your behalf (EG) until you formally revoke the appointment.
Revocation requires executing a formal revocation instrument and lodging it with the relevant body. For EPAs registered with the Land Titles Office, lodge the revocation there. For unregistered instruments, the revocation document still needs to be served on the former attorney.
Superannuation Beneficiaries Are Separate
Your will does not control who receives your superannuation death benefit. That's governed by your fund's beneficiary nomination — either a binding death benefit nomination (BDBN) or a non-binding nomination.
If your ex-spouse is still named as beneficiary on your super fund and you die, the fund trustee is legally bound (under a BDBN) or likely (under a non-binding nomination) to pay the death benefit to your ex-spouse, regardless of what your new will says.
Update your super fund beneficiary nominations at the same time as your will. Check whether your fund uses lapsing BDBNs (common) — many expire after three years and need renewal.
Testator's Family Maintenance Claims
Under the Testator's Family Maintenance Act 1912 (TAS), a former spouse who was receiving or entitled to receive spousal maintenance at the time of death retains the right to bring a claim against your estate — even if you deliberately excluded them from your new will. This statutory right overrides testamentary freedom in specific circumstances.
The Tasmania After-Divorce Checklist includes the complete estate planning audit with checklists for will updates, EPA revocation, and beneficiary nominations.
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