Estate Planning · Family Law · Real Estate
You Just Got Married in Pennsylvania: What the Law Does Next
Marriage in Pennsylvania automatically changes who inherits your assets, who can make medical decisions, and who the law assumes you meant when you named a beneficiary years ago. Under 20 Pa.C.S. § 2507(3) a new spouse becomes a pretermitted heir if the will predates the marriage and does not account for them. But marriage does not automatically update your beneficiary designations, your power of attorney, your deed, or the retirement account that still names someone from 2019. The documents have not caught up yet.
Most couples spend a year planning the wedding and an afternoon on the legal side. The beneficiary designation on the 401(k) still names an ex. The will leaves everything to parents. The deed on the house is in one name. None of that changes automatically when you sign the marriage certificate. It changes when you update the documents.
A beneficiary designation overrides your will. If the 401(k) still names your parents or an ex-partner, that is where the money goes regardless of what the will says.
Call 412-351-4422 or schedule a consultation to review what marriage changed and what still needs to change.
What applies to you?
We have retirement accounts from before the marriage.
Those beneficiary designations need to be updated. The will does not control retirement accounts. The form on file with the plan administrator does.
One of us owns a house from before the marriage.
The deed determines who owns the property and what happens to it if one spouse dies. Marriage does not automatically add a spouse to the deed or change how it passes at death.
We each have wills from before the marriage.
A will that predates the marriage and does not account for the new spouse creates a pretermitted heir claim under Pennsylvania law. Both wills should be reviewed and updated.
One of us owns a business.
A business interest acquired before marriage is generally separate property, but appreciation during the marriage may become marital. A postnuptial agreement or buy-sell provision can address this before it becomes a divorce issue.
We are combining finances and buying a home together.
How the deed is titled matters at death and at divorce. Joint tenancy with right of survivorship and tenants in common produce different outcomes. The choice is made at closing and is not automatic.
We have children from a prior relationship.
A new marriage without updated estate planning can leave prior children with less than intended. A QTIP trust or careful beneficiary designation structure keeps both obligations intact.
What Marriage Changes Automatically in Pennsylvania
Marriage changes several legal defaults in Pennsylvania without any action on your part. Under 20 Pa.C.S. § 2507(3) a spouse who is not named in a will executed before the marriage is treated as a pretermitted heir and may claim an intestate share of the estate. Marriage also establishes spousal rights under Pennsylvania intestate succession law — if you die without a will, your spouse receives a share defined by 20 Pa.C.S. § 2102. Marriage also gives your spouse priority in the appointment of a guardian or administrator if you become incapacitated or die without documents in place.
What marriage does not change automatically: beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and bank accounts with payable-on-death designations. It does not update your power of attorney. It does not change the deed on property you owned before the marriage. It does not revoke a prior will. All of those require affirmative action after the wedding.
Beneficiary Designations: The Document That Overrides Everything
A beneficiary designation is a contract between you and a financial institution. It operates independently of your will, your trust, and your marriage certificate. When you die, the account goes to whoever is named on the form — not whoever the will names, not whoever you told someone you wanted to receive it. If the 401(k) still names your parents, your parents receive the 401(k) regardless of what the will says and regardless of how long you have been married.
ERISA-governed retirement plans — 401(k), 403(b), pension — require a spousal beneficiary designation or a signed spousal waiver. If you want someone other than your spouse to receive an ERISA account, your spouse must waive that right in writing. This is not optional and it is not automatic. For a full discussion of how beneficiary designations interact with estate planning, see our page on what families learn too late about beneficiary designations.
The Will: What Needs to Be Updated and Why
A will executed before marriage that does not account for the new spouse creates a pretermitted heir claim. Your new spouse may be entitled to claim an intestate share even if the will leaves everything elsewhere. The solution is a new will that acknowledges the marriage and intentionally addresses what the spouse receives. The problem is not that the old will is invalid — it is that it may not produce the outcome you intend when it interacts with the new marital relationship.
A new will after marriage should also address the guardian designation question if children are planned or present, the trust provision question if assets are significant, and the coordination between the will and the beneficiary designations that exist outside it. For guidance on what a complete estate plan includes, see our page on wills and trusts in Pennsylvania.
Powers of Attorney: Who Can Act for You
A durable financial power of attorney under 20 Pa.C.S. § 5604 names who can manage your finances if you cannot. A healthcare power of attorney names who can make medical decisions. Marriage does not automatically make your spouse your agent under either document. If you become incapacitated without a valid power of attorney in place, your spouse may need to petition the court for guardianship to manage your affairs — an expensive and avoidable process.
If a prior power of attorney names someone other than your spouse — a parent, a sibling, a prior partner — that document remains in effect until you revoke it and execute a new one. Revocation requires a written notice under 20 Pa.C.S. § 5605. Marriage alone does not do it.
Property and Deeds: What the Marriage Certificate Does Not Transfer
If one spouse owns a home before the marriage, that property remains in their name until a deed is recorded adding or transferring ownership. Marriage does not automatically add the other spouse to the deed. How a jointly purchased home is titled determines what happens at death and at divorce. Joint tenancy with right of survivorship means the surviving spouse receives the property automatically outside probate. Tenants in common means each spouse owns a divisible share that passes through their estate.
Adding a spouse to a deed has tax and Medicaid implications depending on how it is structured. A gift of a partial interest may trigger gift tax reporting. A transfer may restart a Medicaid lookback period. The decision to add a spouse to a deed should be made with those consequences in view. For a full discussion see our page on adding someone to a deed in Pennsylvania.
Couples who purchased a home together before marriage as unmarried co-owners almost certainly hold title as tenants in common. Each owns a divisible share that passes through their individual estate at death rather than automatically to the surviving co-owner. After marriage many couples want to convert that ownership to joint tenancy with right of survivorship so the property passes automatically to the surviving spouse outside probate. That conversion requires a new deed. It does not happen automatically when you get married. If one or both spouses changed their name after marriage a corrective deed or affidavit of identity connects the old name on the deed to the new legal name. This is not always required immediately but becomes essential before any sale or refinance where title insurance requires clean name matching across all documents.
Name Changes: The Documents That Need to Catch Up
A legal name change after marriage requires updating documents across multiple agencies and institutions in a specific order. The Social Security Administration should be updated first — the SSA record is the foundation the other agencies check. Bring your marriage certificate to a Social Security office or update online at ssa.gov. Once the SSA record is updated, update your Pennsylvania driver’s license at PennDOT with the updated Social Security card and marriage certificate. A U.S. passport name change requires form DS-5504 if the passport was issued within the last year or form DS-82 if it was issued more than a year ago — the U.S. Department of State handles passport updates.
After the government documents are updated notify your employer for payroll and benefits records, your bank and financial institutions, your insurance carriers, your professional licensing board if applicable, and your voter registration. The deed on any real estate you own does not need to be updated immediately — a recorded marriage certificate creates the legal link between the old name and the new name for title purposes. But if you are buying or refinancing property after the name change make sure all your identification documents match before closing to avoid title insurance complications. If you and your spouse purchased a home together before the marriage and one or both of you changed your name, a corrective deed or affidavit of identity may be needed before your next sale or refinance to ensure the name on the deed matches your current legal identification.
If You Did Not Get a Prenuptial Agreement
A prenuptial agreement allows spouses to define how property and support will be handled if the marriage ends. If you did not negotiate one before the wedding, a postnuptial agreement can address many of the same questions after. Pennsylvania recognizes postnuptial agreements and enforces them under 23 Pa.C.S. § 3106 when properly executed with full financial disclosure and the opportunity for independent counsel. For couples with business interests, significant premarital assets, or children from a prior relationship, the postnuptial agreement addresses what the wedding did not. See our page on prenuptial and postnuptial agreements in Pennsylvania.
Children From a Prior Relationship: The Blended Family Question
When one or both spouses have children from a prior relationship, a new marriage creates competing obligations that an estate plan must address intentionally. Without planning, a surviving spouse may inherit assets that the deceased spouse intended for their children from the prior relationship. Pennsylvania intestate succession gives the surviving spouse priority. The will and the trust structure are the tools that maintain the intended balance between a surviving spouse and prior children.
A QTIP trust — Qualified Terminable Interest Property trust — allows the first spouse to die to provide income to the surviving spouse while preserving the principal for children from the prior relationship. The surviving spouse is supported. The prior children receive the remainder at the surviving spouse’s death. The asset does not get redirected if the surviving spouse remarries. For a full discussion see our page on QTIP trusts in Pennsylvania.
A Pittsburgh couple married in their early forties. Both had children from prior relationships. Neither updated their estate plans after the wedding. The husband died three years into the marriage. His will, executed before the marriage, left everything to his children from his first marriage. His new wife was not named. Under 20 Pa.C.S. § 2507(3) she claimed a pretermitted heir share. The resulting proceeding required valuation of the estate, litigation over the pretermitted heir claim, and a negotiated resolution that took fourteen months and reduced what the children ultimately received. A new will executed after the marriage would have stated the husband’s actual intentions clearly. The litigation was a product of a document that had not caught up with the life that followed it.
Pennsylvania wills and estate succession are governed by Title 20 of the Pennsylvania statutes. Spousal rights in intestate succession are established at 20 Pa.C.S. § 2102. Powers of attorney are governed by 20 Pa.C.S. Chapter 56. Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements are governed by 23 Pa.C.S. § 3106. Real estate recording requirements are governed by 21 P.S. § 351.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Legal Side of Getting Married in Pennsylvania
Does marriage automatically update my beneficiary designations in Pennsylvania?
No. Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and payable-on-death bank accounts operate independently of marriage and independently of your will. If the form on file names a prior partner, a parent, or anyone other than your new spouse, that designation controls at your death. ERISA-governed plans require a spousal beneficiary designation or a signed spousal waiver if someone other than your spouse is to receive the account.
What happens to my will after I get married in Pennsylvania?
A will executed before marriage remains valid after marriage, but Pennsylvania treats an unmentioned new spouse as a pretermitted heir under 20 Pa.C.S. § 2507(3). The spouse may claim an intestate share of the estate even if the will leaves everything elsewhere. The solution is a new will executed after the marriage that acknowledges the spouse and intentionally addresses what they receive.
Does my spouse automatically have access to my finances if I become incapacitated?
Not automatically. Without a valid durable financial power of attorney naming your spouse as agent, they may need to petition the court for guardianship to manage your accounts and property. Marriage gives your spouse priority in the guardianship proceeding but does not eliminate the need to file. A properly executed power of attorney under 20 Pa.C.S. § 5604 avoids the proceeding entirely.
We did not get a prenuptial agreement. Can we still protect our assets?
Yes. A postnuptial agreement executed after marriage can address many of the same issues a prenuptial agreement would have covered, including how premarital assets are treated in divorce, how business interests are classified, and what spousal support obligations look like. Pennsylvania enforces postnuptial agreements under 23 Pa.C.S. § 3106 when voluntarily executed with full financial disclosure.
How does getting married affect property I owned before the marriage?
Property owned before marriage is generally separate property in Pennsylvania, excluded from equitable distribution under 23 Pa.C.S. § 3501(a). But if separate and marital funds become commingled — if the premarital property is used to buy something jointly, or if marital funds are deposited into an account holding premarital assets — the separate character of the property may be compromised. Keeping premarital assets clearly separate and documented protects them.
I have children from a prior relationship. How do I protect them after I remarry?
Without updated estate planning, a new marriage can redirect assets away from prior children. A QTIP trust allows the surviving spouse to receive income while preserving the principal for children from the prior relationship. The will, the trust structure, and the beneficiary designations all need to be coordinated. Without that coordination, Pennsylvania’s default rules may produce an outcome the deceased spouse would not have chosen.
For related topics see our pages on wills and trusts in Pennsylvania, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, adding someone to a deed in Pennsylvania, and beneficiary designations in Pennsylvania.