You’ll have so much to contend with when you divorce that you might not even consider revising your estate plan. Yet you definitely need to.
Here are some of the things that the revision should include:
1. Updating the list of your estate’s contents
Let’s say that this is not only the year that you divorce, but it also turns out to be the year that you die. It’s an unpleasant thought, but an estate plan needs to prepare for all eventualities.
If your chosen estate executor receives a list of assets that has not been updated since your divorce, it will delay things. They’ll need to work out what you still own and what you lost in the divorce before they can work out how to divide it according to your wishes.
2. Updating your beneficiaries
Having fought so hard to keep certain assets when you divorced, it would be a shame for those assets to go straight back into the hands of your ex because your estate plan still leaves things to them. This is especially easy to overlook with assets that have beneficiary designations.
3. Updating your powers of attorney
Let’s say the accident wasn’t fatal, but it leaves you lying in the hospital, unable to open your eyes, let alone communicate with doctors about your treatment preferences or sign legal documents to keep affairs ticking.
Wouldn’t you rather someone else was in charge of doing these things on your behalf, rather than your ex?
Getting prompt legal help to update your estate plan is wise when any big life event occurs because you can never tell what tomorrow will bring.