Why a Divorce Requires Updating Your New Jersey Estate Plan
When you are planning for a divorce or currently going through one, it can be difficult to focus on issues outside the legal ones related to the distribution of marital property and matters pertaining to child custody. Yet another major legal issue that you will need to address in connection with your divorce is a review and updating of your estate plan. Almost all married people in New Jersey include their spouses in their estate plan, and spouses are often a major component of most estate plans. Given that you will no longer have the same relationship with your spouse, you will most likely want to change your estate plan — from the parties who you have entrusted to make important decisions on your behalf to the parties inheriting your assets.
What estate planning documents and tools will need updating in connection with a divorce? Consider the following from our Summit estate planning lawyers.
Making a New Will and Revising Your Revocable Living Trust
Your will and revocable living trust will likely name your spouse as a beneficiary. After a divorce, most people no longer want their ex-spouses to inherit their assets. As such, it will be important to create new documents and revise others.
While New Jersey law permits a person to make an addition to their will (known as a “codicil”), it is often easier to have your lawyer create a new will with the necessary changes. When it comes to your revocable living trust, you can revise your beneficiaries.
Creating New Powers of Attorney
Do you have powers of attorney in place that give your ex-spouse the ability to make important decisions on your behalf, either presently or in the event you become incapacitated? You will want to revoke any existing powers of attorney with your ex named as your agent and create new ones with a party you trust named as your agent.
Changing Payable-On-Death Beneficiary Designations
If you have named your spouse as the beneficiary of your bank accounts through a payable-on-death (POD) beneficiary designation, you will want to change these.
Updating Your Proxy Directive
Your proxy directive, or health care power of attorney, most likely names your spouse as the person who can make health care decisions on your behalf in the event of your incapacity. This will be a crucial document to change. You will want to determine who you trust to make this type of decision for you after your divorce — an adult child, for example, or a sibling or parent — and update your proxy directive.
Contact a Summit, New Jersey Estate Planning Attorney for Assistance Updating or Revising Your Estate Plan After a Divorce
Are you currently planning for or going through a divorce in New Jersey, or was your divorce recently finalized? If so, it is important to turn your attention to your estate plan. Nearly all divorcees will need to revise or update their estate plans in connection with their divorce, from revising beneficiaries to changing powers of attorney. Whether you have specific questions or need assistance updating your estate plan, one of the experienced Summit estate planning attorneys at Dempsey, Dempsey & Sheehan can begin working with you today. Contact us for more information about how we can help your estate plan updates and all other estate planning needs in New Jersey.
Source:
law.justia.com/codes/new-jersey/title-3b/
