Succession Act brings in the divorce effect

There has been little major substantive law on succession since the 1964 Act. However the Succession (Scotland) Act 2016 makes a number of changes based on Scottish Law Commission recommendations.

The majority of the Act has still to come into force, but there is one significant change that property lawyers should look out for. Currently a will in favour of a spouse or civil partner of the testator will prevail, even after the marriage or civil partnership of those parties has ended through divorce, dissolution or annulment. The 2016 Act will reverse this position, and any provision in a will appointing a former spouse or civil partner as executors or bequeathing estate to them will not apply.

The 2016 Act also updates and re-enacts s 19 of the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006, which provided for survivorship destinations in title to heritable property to be revoked on divorce or annulment.