Getting married in Hong Kong automatically revokes any Will you made before the wedding. This is not a commonly known rule. Most people assume a Will stays valid unless they actively cancel it. But under section 14 of the Wills Ordinance (Cap. 30), marriage is one of the few events that voids a Will automatically, without any action from you.
The moment you sign your marriage certificate, your previous Will becomes legally ineffective. Your estate would then be distributed according to Hong Kong intestacy law (Cap. 73), as if you had never made a Will at all.
Why the law works this way
The rule exists because marriage represents a fundamental change in your personal and legal circumstances. The law assumes that a Will made before your marriage may not reflect your intentions now that you have a spouse. Rather than leaving that uncertainty unresolved, it wipes the slate clean.
The practical consequence is significant. If you made a Will leaving everything to your parents, your siblings, or a previous partner, and you then marry without updating your Will, none of those wishes have any legal force. Your new spouse may receive far less than you intended, or your estate may be distributed in a way that neither of you would have chosen.
What happens to your estate after marriage with no new Will
Without a valid Will, your estate is distributed under Cap. 73 intestacy rules. The outcome depends on your family situation at the time of death.
your spouse receives all personal belongings plus HKD 500,000, plus half of the remaining estate. Your children split the other half.
your spouse receives all personal belongings plus HKD 1,000,000, plus half of the remaining estate. If your parents are alive, they share the other half equally.
your children split the entire estate equally.
To see exactly how this plays out for your specific family situation, try our free intestacy calculator.
Is there any exception?
Yes, one. Under section 14(3) of Cap. 30, if your Will was made in contemplation of a specific marriage and the Will itself clearly states that intention, then the marriage does not revoke it.
For example, if your Will contained a clause that explicitly named the person you were engaged to and stated that the Will was intended to survive your marriage to that specific person, the Will would remain valid after that marriage.
Source: Wills Ordinance Cap. 30, s.14(3)In practice, this exception is uncommon. Most Wills do not include such a clause. And even if yours does, the contemplation of marriage provision only protects the Will as it stands. It does not automatically reflect your new circumstances as a married person. You almost certainly have new wishes that an old Will cannot express.
The safe and practical answer is always the same: make a new Will after you marry.
What about divorce?
Divorce does not revoke your Will. This is a common misconception.
Under section 15 of Cap. 30, if your marriage is dissolved or annulled after you made a Will, the Will remains valid. What changes is how it operates. Your former spouse is automatically removed as executor, and any gifts to them lapse. A lapsed gift of a specific item or sum falls into the residue of your estate; but if you left the residue itself to your former spouse, that share passes under the intestacy rules instead. All of this gives way to a contrary intention: if your Will makes clear that your former spouse should still benefit or act despite a divorce, that governs. Everything else in the Will stands as written.
This means that if your Will leaves assets to other people, your children, your parents, or a friend, those gifts are unaffected by the divorce. But if your Will was structured around your former spouse, significant parts of it may no longer work as you intended, even though the Will itself survives.
Source: Wills Ordinance Cap. 30, s.15(1)After a divorce, you need a new Will just as much as after a marriage. The reasons are just different.
The three life events that should always trigger a Will review
revokes your existing Will outright under Cap. 30, s.14. Make a new one immediately.
does not revoke the Will, but removes your former spouse and lapses their gifts. Review and rewrite to reflect your actual wishes.
does not revoke the Will, but if you have not named a guardian, or if your estate distribution no longer makes sense with a child in the picture, your Will needs updating.
Other events worth a review: acquiring significant new assets, a beneficiary dying, moving property across jurisdictions, or a change in your relationship with someone named in your Will.
How long does it take to make a new Will?
Bequest guides you through creating a Will in around 20 minutes. You answer straightforward questions about your family, your assets, and your wishes. Your completed document is yours to review, sign, and witness in accordance with Hong Kong law.
If you are recently married and have an existing Will, making a new one should be one of the first things you do together as a couple.