Divorcing will involve a lot of big changes. It’s also going to require a lot of time and effort. Thus it can be easy to overlook that you also need to update your estate plan to reflect your single-again status.
An out-of-date estate plan can be problematic for you, your executor and your loved ones. So it is best to get yours back up to date as soon as possible. Here are a few tasks to focus on:
Updating your list of assets
Your estate plan should reflect the current assets you own. Divorce has probably seen an overhaul of your assets, so ensure you remove anything you no longer have and add anything you recently acquired. For example, removing the bond investment that your ex-spouse took and updating the plan to show you are now the sole owner of the house.
Updating your beneficiaries
You need to reconsider who you wish to leave your assets to. You’ll likely want to remove your spouse’s name and replace them with others. Make sure you update everything, from your will to your trusts to any assets with a beneficiary designation.
Updating your powers of attorney
It’s common to give your spouse power of attorney over everything from your financial matters to your health care decisions. While you can certainly retain them if you are both happy to do so, most divorcing couples will prefer to choose someone else.
These estate plan changes can be significant, so it’s wise to get legal guidance to ensure you make the right choices for your new situation.