In most cases, people don’t get married expecting to be separated in the future. Most couples plan to grow old together and make preparations for their wife or husband’s welfare in the event of your demise or incapacitation. They draw up relevant estate planning documents detailing their wishes for the disposal of their wealth and assets.
In a divorce, unfortunately, these arrangements need to change. But couples are too emotionally drained to remember their estate plan. This makes the presence of divorce lawyers all the more critical in a separation. Your divorce lawyer makes sure your estate planning documents reflect your new marital status after the divorce is complete. Different jurisdictions have varied rules on the timeframe it should take for you to change your estate planning documents.
Here are the primary documents you and your lawyer must change after a divorce.
Will
In most areas, your ex-spouse’s provisions in a will are automatically revoked after your separation, but the rest of your will remains unaffected. In some cases, the entire will can be revoked, while in some, your ex-spouse may inherit what is stated in your will. Either way, the divorce will have little impact on the other beneficiaries in your will. Your ex-spouse’s children and relatives might still lay claim to your estate if you had included them in your will — something you might not want to happen after a divorce.
Trust
If you die before the courts issue a final divorce decree, the provisions in your trust will be followed as is. To this end, what you left your soon-to-be-ex will go to him/her. Now, if the trust is a living trust, the provisions you have made for your ex-spouse are invalid. To keep your ex from getting your property in an irrevocable trust, specify when making one that a divorce will negate the provisions made in your trust for a spouse.
Guardianship and Power-of-Attorney
Most states automatically revoke a soon-to-be ex-spouse’s power-of-attorney when either of the parties files for a divorce. This is unlike other estate planning documents, wherein provisions are canceled only upon the issuance of a final divorce decree. However, if a power-of-attorney also includes the appointment of one spouse as guardian, the filing of divorce will not revoke this appointment as long as the guardianship is still necessary. The appointment will be withdrawn upon the issuance of your final divorce decree.
Living Will
A living will contains directives on your health care should you be unable to make the decision. There is no clear-cut legislation on whether a divorce filing or the issuance of a final decree will be the reason for revoking your ex-spouse’s designation as your living will agent. Since the agent in a living will is often the same as that of a power-of-attorney, the power is terminated upon revocation of the designation.
When you’re undergoing a divorce, you’ll be making several decisions in your divorce proceedings. You might not think much of these documents, assuming they are revoked automatically. With these pieces of information, you now know how important it is to have an attorney who is also well-versed in estate planning, to make sure your plan is not mishandled.