Predatory marriages are exploiting the weaknesses of current wills law: Sarah Everington, Alex Adams & Farida Hindi set out what can be done to safeguard vulnerable adults
- Predatory marriage weaponises English law’s automatic will-revocation and intestacy rules to trap isolated or cognitively impaired adults into unions for financial gain.
- Pre- or post-nuptial agreements, capacity assessments and marriage-caveats can flag undue influence, but remain non-binding without robust legislative backing.
- The Law Commission’s 2025 proposals to abolish will-revocation on marriage and shift the burden of proving undue influence seek to deter exploiters and uphold vulnerable testators’ wishes.
- Until then, proactive legal advice, regular familial engagement and increased public awareness remain the most effective tools of prevention.
Legal practitioners are increasingly finding themselves at the intersection of safeguarding vulnerable individuals and navigating complex legal frameworks. Recent developments and highly publicised debates such as the assisted dying Bill and the Law Commission’s 2025 ‘Modernising Wills’ report have reignited national discussion around the protection of vulnerable adults during and at the end of life. Both debates have been shaped by
