Divorce

Reasons to Review Your Estate Plan Following a Divorce

Any significant change in your life circumstance should lead to a review of your estate plan. This is particularly true when your family changes size. A divorce certainly qualifies since you now have one less family member – your spouse. Here are a couple of reasons to immediately review your estate plan after a divorce.

• Some things don’t go through probate – If you have a POD bank account, a retirement account, a trust, or a life insurance policy, the assets will go to your assigned beneficiary without passing through probate court. Therefore, you are required to change the beneficiary while you are still living. If you die and your ex’s name is still on any of these documents, they will get the inheritance despite the divorce.
• You want to take care of your kids, even if you get remarried – Getting a divorce when you have kids adds another layer to estate planning, especially if you ever get remarried. Natural succession in California will pass everything to your new mate, so if you want kids you had with an ex to get an inheritance, it now has to be explicit in your estate plan.

San Diego Estate Planning Attorneys

Petrov Law Firm has the estate planning attorneys to help walk you through this process in the state of California. Whether you have recently moved into the state, experienced a life change, or just have never put an estate plan in place before, we’re here to help. Call 619.344.0360 to get started today.