After a divorce, it is not uncommon for one or both spouses to struggle with the new circumstances, financially and otherwise. Even if the divorce occurs after the children are no longer in the home, re-organizing one’s life and priorities can still be a challenging, life-changing event for the entire family.
After the property and assets have been divided up during the divorce, most people turn their concerns to their children’s futures. In doing so, it is important to review your estate planning after a divorce has been finalized.
Revising Your Estate Plan After a Divorce
Estate plans are typically comprised of wills, powers of attorney, insurance contracts, beneficiary designations, trusts, health care directives and HIPAA authorizations, all of which you may want to revise after a divorce in Wagoner Oklahoma for the following reasons:
Firstly, it is generally a good idea to update your estate planning documents after any major life events, such as a divorce or a death in the family. Doing so ensures that information within those documents reflects any changes in the circumstances of your life or in the lives of your family members.
Reviewing your estate planning documents is especially important when it comes to your will, health care directive and HIPAA authorization. If your health care directive or HIPAA authorization lists people who no longer live near you, who have passed away, or whom you no longer want to have a say in making health care decisions for you, it is important to revise these documents before these decisions need to be made on your behalf.
Secondly, one of the biggest reasons for revising your estate planning measures after a divorce is that you no longer want your ex-spouse to inherit or have access to your estate after you die. Additionally, if you have minor children and you haven’t revised your estate planning documents, it is possible that any assets your children inherit will be administered by your ex-spouse, if he or she has custody of your children after you die. It is not uncommon for your ex-spouse to have different ideas than you concerning how these assets are to be handled on behalf of the children. Consult an experienced estate planning attorney following a divorce to protect your assets and their management after your death.
Finally, Oklahoma law deals with the estates of single persons differently than those of married couples, in some respects. If you haven’t made the proper arrangements to distribute your assets after you pass away, the state will decide how your assets are to be distributed, which might not be in the manner that you intended. An efficient estate planning attorney can help you make the necessary changes to your estate plan following a divorce to ensure that your desires are met once you have passed away.
Initial Strategy Session: Wagoner Divorce Attorney
The peace of mind that comes with the knowledge that your estate will be handled in the manner that wish in the event of your passing away or becoming unable to do so yourself is invaluable. You should contact an experienced estate planning attorney soon after your divorce to insure that you and your loved ones are taken care of in the best possible way.
For a low-cost consultation with a Wagoner divorce lawyer call the Wirth Law Office – Wagoner at (918) 485-0335 (or toll free at (888) Wirth-Law). Or, as always, you may enter a legal question in the form at the top right of this page.
