Estate Planning After Divorce
After a divorce, the last thing that anyone wants to think about is seeing an attorney, legal matters, planning the future, that sort of thing. The sad truth is that this is probably the most important time to get your estate plan revised or drafted. It’s the very last step to the process before you are set up for starting your new future.
After divorce, you lose that second person in your life who will “take care of everything” if something should happen to you. Presumably, during marriage, if you should pass away, your husband will be in charge of the kids and raise them to adults. To do so, he will use your monies, in whatever form, and manage them on behalf of the children for their care, maintenance and education. A lot of your assets will likely be joint with your spouse. That makes everything easy for him to move on and make a life for your kids. These rights are almost “automatic” when you are married, though an estate plan defines them further.
Your divorce agreement will likely provide for life insurance to benefit your children and their upbringing. How will your other affairs be handled? What will happen to items that you want specifically set aside for your daughters? Who will make sure that your son has the money that you’ve set aside from an injury he had years ago? What will happen to assets that are not jointly held with anyone? What if your kids are not adults when you pass? Who will manage monies that are not designated to your former spouse to manage? THESE are the things that must be managed with your estate plan. If you already have one, it may be time to revise it post-divorce.
If you are unmarried, and your assets are no longer joint, you must name the persons that will take care of these very things. There is no longer someone right there to pick up the pieces and get the job done. You need to name that person, give direction and state your intentions. And now is the time to do it.
It’s painless, I promise. Call me to discuss your estate plan and a quick, easy way to get it done – or updated – for the safety and security of your assets in the future.
