There are a number of estate planning issues that can pop up after you get divorced. It’s not necessarily a well-known aspect of ending a marriage the way legally changing your name is, so these can get overlooked. If you pass away or get sick before changing your documents, decisions or transfers might happen that were not in line with your actual intentions. However, if these documents are legally valid, your other beneficiaries cannot argue that what happened is not what you wanted.

By default, your spouse may have been listed as the primary decision maker on most of your estate planning and this can prove problematic if and when you get a divorce. This makes it important to meet with your estate planning attorney after getting a divorce to revisit the following issues and ensure that you have outlined the right people to receive assets.

  • Life insurance beneficiaries, which pass outside of probate
  • Retirement account beneficiaries, which pass outside of probate
  • Transfer on death deeds
  • Updating your will for any property lost or gained during the divorce
  • Renaming an executor of your will

Thinking through the guardian for your minor children. Courts typically do not assign a guardianship to another person unless both parents are unfit or deceased.

Meeting with an estate planning lawyer is one of the easiest ways to accomplish your goals when it comes to updating your estate plan post-divorce. A lawyer can review all of these key issues with you and help you better understand what to expect moving forward. The support of a lawyer is instrumental in covering all of these details.

Need help with documenting your estate plan? Our Pasadena lawyers can assist you.

 

 

 

 

 

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