Getting divorced can be a chaotic experience. The fallout can be extensive, unpredictable, and quite painful, especially if you have had no time to prepare for it. Once it’s over, you may not immediately know what to do next. You may want to prioritize your financial security by making sure your estate plan is protected. Following a life event, you may want to check on and update your estate plan with the aid of a Missouri estate planning lawyer.
How Does a Divorce Affect Your Estate Plan?
Unfortunately, there are many ways a divorce can alter your estate plan. If you and your partner were married for a long time, you may have built that estate plan together after planning out your future as a couple. Regrettably, that didn’t work out, and now you have this comprehensive plan for your family’s financial future that may no longer be entirely valid. It is important that you take care of this quickly, or your ex could have considerable power over you.
A life event, such as a divorce, birth, death, or adoption, can change your immediate definition of family. It can also impact exactly who is going to benefit from your estate plan. If you don’t protect your estate after your divorce, your former spouse could inherit everything you once intended for them to inherit. If you don’t have a plan at all, Missouri’s rules of descent could distribute your assets as decided entirely by the courts.
During your divorce, you need to disentangle your life from your spouse’s on every level, from your joint bank accounts to your streaming account passwords. You should make sure your estate plan is adjusted, too. It may not seem like an immediate priority compared to other aspects of your divorce, like child custody or spousal support, but it may cause unexpected problems in your future if you don’t handle it now.
An experienced estate planning lawyer can look through your estate plan for you and make sure it is properly updated. Depending on the situation, there is a strong possibility that your spouse cannot get any of your assets that are placed in a trust. Additionally, Missouri state law revokes your spouse’s inclusion in your will automatically, so they can’t benefit unless you directly put them back in it. Still, it can’t hurt to check.
Why Should You Update Your Plan?
An estate plan is a complex series of documents built up over time to reflect your final wishes for your assets. It also outlines your wishes for medical care if you are incapacitated. It’s important that these documents be updated any time you deal with a significant life change, as that change can impact your wishes. When you get divorced, you may want to revoke your spouse’s power of attorney over your medical needs. When someone in your family has a baby, you may want to leave something to them.
Ultimately, keeping your estate plan updated is your own responsibility, though an experienced lawyer can work on your behalf to keep it updated. Ultimately, you may want to make sure:
- Your estate plan is fully enforceable and lists only those individuals whom you wish to benefit from it.
- Someone you implicitly trust is given power of attorney over your medical needs when the time comes.
FAQs
Q: Is Your Estate Plan Automatically Protected in a Divorce?
A: No, your estate plan is not automatically protected in a divorce. If you want to make the necessary changes to your plan, you are going to have to do it yourself. A divorce is a substantial life change that will impact many different aspects of your life, including your current estate plan. A lawyer can go through it and make the changes you want, but you may want to consider making an entirely new plan if the old one is particularly unsuitable.
Q: Do You Really Need a Lawyer to Update Your Estate Plan?
A: Legally, you are not required to hire a lawyer to update your estate plan. However, if you know what you want to do with your plan but have no idea where to start, you should consider hiring an experienced estate planning lawyer to help you figure out a reliable plan. In any situation, a skilled estate planning attorney can use their knowledge of estate law to bolster the effectiveness and enforceability of your estate plan.
Q: Is There a Specific Time You Should Update Your Plan?
A: It is entirely up to you to decide when you want to update your estate plan. Many people decide to make the necessary changes whenever they go through a monumental change in their life, such as a divorce, marriage, birth, or death in the family. Ultimately, you can change your plan whenever you want. However, after a divorce, you may want to act fast to remove your former spouse from any position of inheritance or power.
Q: What’s the Point of Estate Planning?
A: The ultimate point of estate planning is to make sure your loved ones are protected when you pass away. An estate plan may include a will, a trust, and explicit instructions on how to distribute your assets among the chosen beneficiaries. People with substantial estates often decide to make a plan that their family can follow. This can make sure what they have is given to the right people.
Contact an Experienced Estate Planning Lawyer Today
When you get divorced, you may completely forget to update your estate plan and cut your former spouse out of it. If you wait too long, you may end up in a medical situation where your former spouse has power of attorney over you. That’s the last thing you want. A good lawyer can make sure that never happens by adjusting your plan accordingly.
The legal team at Stange Law Firm can provide comprehensive services to keep your estate plan properly protected. Contact us to speak to a team member about your estate planning needs.
