Recently Divorced? What You Need To Do

Recently Divorced?  What You Need To Do

As an Estate Planning Attorney, I hear this question a lot, “I am recently divorced, do I need to update my Estate Plan?” The simple answer is “Yes.”

If you and/or your former spouse took time to make estate plans at some point during the marriage, then it’s likely that your former spouse is nominated as your personal representative (also referred to as an executor) in your Will. A divorce decree will not automatically void this nomination. So if you feel strongly that you are no longer comfortable with your former spouse stepping in and administering your estate, your Will should be updated. 

This is true even if you had nominated one or even two other alternate personal representatives.  The court will want to appoint the person based on priority, e.g. first nominee, second nominee, etc…  Even if your former spouse is not the first nominee, the only way to ensure that they will not be appointed is to draft a new Will. 

In addition, if you had prepared an estate plan during the marriage it is highly likely that it was written for your former spouse to inherit your estate upon passing and vice versa.  Once the divorce is finalized and all the property has been appropriately split between the two of you.  You received your share and your former spouse received their share.  Now, in light of the divorce, you’ll want to re-evaluate who you will want to inherit and how much you will want them to inherit.  If you have minor children, you will need to decide at what age you wish for them to inherit and the best manner if which for them to inherit. 

Updating your estate plan is especially critical if you have children together and you and your former spouse do not agree on how they should be cared for.  Ask yourself: How do you want the kids to be taken care of if something happens to you? And what if something should happen to both of you?

STAY UP TO DATE

Subscribe to our newsletters

 
Subscribe to one or more of our newsletters, delivering meaningful insight on topics that matter to you and your family.
ebl home subscribe image

FURTHER READING

Latest Blog Posts

If you and your partner reside in Washington state and are unmarried, you each might qualify for the legal protections availed to you by law by classifying your relationship as a committed intimate relationship.

One of the greatest gifts you can give your family is to build an estate plan while you are alive and well. Estate planning allows you to formally communicate your wishes so they will not be up for interpretation by…

A co-executor can help facilitate the distribution of assets, minimize conflicts, and provide much-needed support to grieving families.

The law makes it easy for people to get out of bad marriages. Washington, like most states, acknowledges no-fault divorce. This means that if you want a court to dissolve your marriage, all you have to do is file for…

Washington state’s laws on non-marital relationships, including committed intimate relationships (CIRs), can be convoluted, especially in the absence of a cohabitation agreement. Given the ambiguity that exists for unmarried partners in Washington state, thinking about the future and what it could look like is more important than ever. This is especially true in terms of aging, incapacity, and death. Fortunately, you can address each of these issues in a comprehensive estate plan.

Prenups and postnups can strengthen a marriage, given how they require relationship partners to put their cards on the table for each other to see, offering transparency and peace of mind. Despite their similarities, there are a few significant differences between the two.

Child support is one of the most contentious issues in divorce cases where parties have minor children. Even though Washington state law uses the same complex mathematical formula to determine the amount of child support for each child, there is…

Family law and estate planning often intersect. This is particularly true when contemplating divorce, remarriage, or blending families.

At some point during your divorce case, friends and family members whose own marriages ended in divorce probably told you that it gets better, and it does. Of course, from your perspective, getting out of a bad marriage might be…

Co-parenting over a long distance when you are a non-residential parent does not have to equate to sacrificing involvement in your children’s lives. But it likely does mean you will have to make tweaks in your communication and parenting style to accommodate the new living arrangement.