Few things in your life can be as chaotic, unpredictable, and painful as a divorce, particularly an unexpected one you may not have had time to prepare for. A divorce is a hefty life change that can leave you confused about what to do next, but it is vitally important to your financial security that you take the proper steps to protect yourself by prioritizing certain tasks. One of these is updating your estate plan, which a Missouri estate planning lawyer can help you with.
Is It Important to Update Your Estate Plan After a Divorce?
It is quite important to update your estate plan after your divorce. Depending on the length of your marriage and the wealth of assets you may accrued throughout it, there is a strong chance that you and your spouse developed an estate plan together. After all, it is likely you were planning a long-term future together, and you wanted to put those plans in writing, which is understandable. Now, however, it is vital that you disentangle that plan and separate your finances.
Missouri is a no-fault divorce state, which means you don’t need to establish blame for the breakdown of the marriage in order to pursue a divorce. In addition to fixing your estate plan, you are also going to have to figure out asset division, spousal support, and child custody if that applies to your situation. Updating your estate plan may not seem like a priority compared to other steps, but if you don’t take care of it promptly, it could result in long-term consequences.
By hiring an experienced estate planning lawyer to update your plan, you are making sure that your former spouse has no ties to your estate. In the event of your death, they cannot contest the plan and try to claim anything to which they may feel entitled. They can help you make sure all of your financial documents are legally updated and as current as possible, which means removing your former spouse’s name from everything that they might use to claim what’s yours.
Why Is It Important to Update Your Estate Plan?
An estate plan is not a one-page document that’s updated one time with a signature and a stamp. It’s a comprehensive and complex series of documents with multiple parts, all of which are working towards the singular goal of providing your loved ones with financial security after you pass away. Many of these parts need to be updated after a divorce to ensure that your plan is still moving in the right direction. Some of these require your personal approval or involvement.
It is ultimately your responsibility to ensure your own financial security is in good hands. While an experienced estate planning lawyer can be a lot of help in these situations, it is left up to you to direct where their help is most suited. Here are some of the significant estate plan elements that you should consider looking into and changing to reflect your current marital status:
- Last will and testament. One of the most vital elements of your estate plan is your last will and testament. Depending on when you first draft your will, your former spouse may be prominent throughout the document. You may have even left most of your assets to them. Your spouse will not be automatically removed from the will if you get divorced. That’s something that must be done through the proper means.
A lawyer can help you look through your will and remove it, or it can help you draft an entirely new will, if necessary. While you are looking through everything, you may want to consider double-checking the other beneficiaries to see if they are still included the way you want. Maybe multiple things need to change.
- Power of attorney. It is very important that you remove your former spouse from having power of attorney over your finances or medical needs. If something were to happen to you before you do this, they might be the ones who decide how your estate is divided or whether or not to give you certain medical care. The last thing you want is for your decisions to be made by someone you may no longer trust.
FAQs
Q: Am I Going to Need a Lawyer’s Help to Update My Estate?
A: Technically, you do not need a lawyer’s help to update your own estate. If you know what you want to do and how to do it, feel free to move forward and do it without hiring a lawyer. A lawyer can help you figure out a plan for what you need and can guide you through the process if you are unfamiliar with it.
Q: When Should I Update My Plan?
A: You should consider updating your plan as soon as possible after your divorce. The sooner, the better. An estate plan should be updated after any major life event or milestone happens to you. This can include marriages, divorces, deaths, births, and adoptions. Any time something significant happens in your life, you should take another look at your estate plan and make sure the asset division and power of attorney designations are still relevant.
Q: Should I Hire a Lawyer to Draft My Will in Missouri?
A: While you do not legally need to hire a lawyer to draft your will in Missouri, hiring an estate planning lawyer to look over your will and ensure you did not miss any crucial steps might be beneficial in the long run. Above all, you want your will to be enforceable and legally binding in the event of your death. If your estate is particularly complex, you should consider having a lawyer look over your document.
Q: Why Should I Bother With Estate Planning?
A: If you have a significant estate, including bank accounts, assets, debts, and trusts, and you don’t make a plan, the probate court is going to make it for you. You should be the one who dictates who gets your assets and when. If you don’t have a plan in place, people you may not have heard from in years might be able to make a claim. You want to make sure your loved ones are taken care of.
Contact a Lawyer
At Stange Law Firm, an estate planning lawyer can help you figure out a strategy after your divorce. Reach out to us today to speak to someone about your case.
