When you sign your complaint to end your marriage, many things start happening. As a parent, you must discuss and resolve the issues surrounding your children. There are many financial issues to address. One of those financial issues is your estate plan and whether it needs to be amended.
You likely will need to update your last will and testament following a divorce. If you’re like many New Jersey spouses, you may have listed your (now former) spouse as a beneficiary to your estate. Now that he or she is your ex, you might want to change the document, especially if you wind up marrying another person.
Additional estate planning documents you might want to amend after divorce
Do you have a life insurance policy? If you listed your ex as a beneficiary, you’ll want to update the document as soon as possible following your divorce unless the divorce decree or agreement states to the contrary. The following list includes several more estate planning documents that may need updating:
- Powers of attorney
- Financial account holder information
- Revocable trust
Have you named guardians for your children?
If your ex dies before you do, who will take custody of your minor children if something happens to you? When a set of parents is married, one parent knows the other parent will take care of the children if he or she dies. However, if you finalize a divorce, and your ex passes away first, the state will determine where your children go if you have not designated legal guardians on their behalf.
Tell your relatives to review their estate plans
Following your divorce, your extended family members will want to update their estate plans if they listed your ex as a beneficiary in their wills or named him or her as an executor or power of attorney.
