June 2018

THE VALLEY BUSINESS JOURNAL
16 www.TheValleyBusinessJournal.com
June 2018
If You Divorce, What Happens to
Your Estate Plan?
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Married couples seeking divorce
have many financial and family issues
to sort out, and one of those is making
changes to any estate plan already
in place. Whether they have a trust
where both are the grantor/trustee and
primary beneficiary, or if they have
traditional wills, all estate planning
documents will need to be modified as
part of finalizing their divorce.
Since most estate plans will grant
most property to the surviving spouse,
it is important to amend documents as
soon as possible.
What Changes Need to Be Made to
Estate Planning Documents?
• Traditional Wills - Both spouses
should revoke their wills and make
new ones, with a new executor. In
California, even if you don’t make a
new will, state law revokes any bequests
in the will to a former spouse
after divorce without affecting the
rest of the will.
• Trusts - Revocable trusts should
be changed as well to reflect new
grantor/trustee names even if the remaining
beneficiaries are the same.
Irrevocable trusts are more complex
and need expert legal advice for
amendments.
• Power of Attorney and Living
Wills - Powers of attorney for finances
and health care in a living
will that name an ex-spouse should
be revoked and changed to a new
trusted individual.
• Beneficiary Designations -
Designations in life insurance policies,
IRAs, and pay-on-death bank
or brokerage accounts need to
be changed to new beneficiaries.
Many of these assets will be part of
any divorce decree and division of
property, but it is still important to
change the beneficiary name on any
account you hold post-divorce.
LEGAL
by by
Andrea Steve Fillingim Shoup
“
Important to note is that once a divorce
is filed, there is a temporary restraining
order issued which prohibits certain
changes and modifications to estate
planning documents
Important to note is that once a
divorce is filed, there is a temporary restraining
order issued which prohibits
certain changes and modifications to
estate planning documents. While in
the middle of a divorce, it is important
to know what may or may not be done
during that time.
Who is Affected by Changes to the
Estate Plan?
Obviously, those most affected are
the divorcing spouses, since any rights
or assets that are a part of the estate
plan will no longer be valid. Those assets
will need to be redistributed in the
new plan among existing heirs. Minor
children are also affected where new
trustees or guardians need to be named
for management of trust property.
There are many things to consider
when going through a divorce, and it
is easy to overlook the estate plan.
While you may have a divorce attorney
handling the marital separation
in court, modification and drafting of
new estate documents should be done
by a qualified estate planning attorney.
Please contact Attorney Andrea Shoup
at 951-445-4114 or visit www.ShoupLegal.com
if you are contemplating
divorce and have questions on how to
make sure your estate plan is amended
correctly to reflect your new legal
status.
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