Divorce, Blended Families and Estate Plans
If your marriage has ended in divorce, your spouse has died, or you have remarried, and both spouses have children from a prior marriage, you must revisit your estate plan and update it along with all your beneficiary designations.
Divorce
Going through the process of ending your marriage can be stressful enough without worrying about the status of your assets in the event of your death. The fact is, you could die during the divorce proceedings and before the divorce becomes official. Consequently, you should know that your estranged spouse would receive any funds held in financial accounts, or insurance proceeds where that spouse is the named beneficiary. Therefore, it is advisable to change the beneficiaries immediately.
You should also update your Health Care and Financial Power of Attorney documents. Undoubtedly, you named your estranged spouse as your agent in both documents. As a result, the spouse has the right to sign your name for financial transactions, access your accounts, and be in charge of health care and life support decisions. I am assuming that is not something you would want, given the current circumstances.
Blended Families
If you have remarried and you and your spouse have children from a prior marriage, you need to carefully consider your intentions for property distribution upon the death of the first spouse and after the survivor dies.
