Changes to Make to Your Estate Plan After a Divorce

As you are going through a divorce, there’s no shortage of issues you need to sort out in the short term. However, it’s also important that you consider the impact your change in life circumstances will have on your estate plan, if you have one already established.

The following are several actions to take after your divorce to make sure your estate plan continues to reflect your wishes:

• Revoke your existing will and start from scratch: It’s far easier to just create a brand new will rather than trying to go line-by-line to edit the document and hope you’ve caught everything. This guarantees you create the document with your new life situation in mind, and ensures you do not accidentally leave your ex-spouse anywhere in the document. You will be able to leave your property to the people you wish, name an executor who will handle your estate and name a new guardian to take care of your minor children, if necessary.
• Update your beneficiaries: Your will probably does not cover all of your assets. Some of your assets will be passed down through other policies or accounts, such as life insurance policies, IRAs, 401(k)s, payable-on-death accounts or transfer-on-death brokerage accounts. Make sure you update all of your beneficiary designations on any such account you own so you do not accidentally pass down this money to your ex-spouse.
• Establish new powers of attorney: Most people grant power of attorney to their spouse for healthcare and financial matters. Obviously, after a divorce, you are going to want to revisit these decisions and determine which friend or relative will have that power instead.

For more information about updating your estate plan after a divorce, contact a reliable Tampa estate planning attorney at BaumannKangas Estate Law.