Divorced? Time For An Estate Plan Check-up
If you’ve recently (or even not-so-recently) been through a divorce, it’s critical to see an estate planning attorney to revise your planning. As your divorce attorney hopefully explained to you, under Maryland law your divorce decree automatically alters your estate planning documents. This means generally that your now ex-spouse won’t inherit under your will, cannot serve as trustee of your trust, and will not be considered to be your agent under a Power of Attorney or Medical Advance Directive. But don’t let this lull you into thinking you don’t need to do anything. This is a crucial time to revisit your plan, because:
The law does not alter your beneficiary designations. If you still have your ex-spouse named as the beneficiary on a retirement account or life insurance policy, they will get those funds in the event of your death. For many people, these amounts can be significant. Also, be careful about naming minor children as beneficiaries on these accounts. If your ex is the child’s other parent, they are deemed to be the child’s natural guardian. Your ex could end up having control over those funds without the proper planning in place!
Just taking your ex-spouse off of the table isn’t enough - you want to be sure you have individuals named in your documents to fill the critical roles. For example, if you have a Financial Power of Attorney with your (now ex) spouse named as your agent with no successor named, you are now essentially without the protections that a Power of Attorney document provides.
You also want to make sure the people in those critical roles are the right people. For many people, divorce shifts the landscape of who you trust and depend on dramatically. Maybe your (now ex) sister-in-law wouldn’t be your first choice for guardian of your children anymore. Or maybe that friend you named as successor trustee is someone who you’ve grown distant from after the split. This is a good time to revisit all of those choices.
As both a family law and an estate planning attorney, I am prepared to help you sort through these issues. If you have been through a divorce and could use a post-divorce estate planning check up, schedule a quick chat to get started.
