What happens to your Estate Plan if you get a divorce?

Divorce is a mess. I know first-hand. There are several things you should consider after some of the smoke clears. If you don’t have an estate plan, now would be a great time to get it done. If you do have an estate plan, you will want to make some changes.

California has a law that after divorce, any gifts in your Will to your now ex-spouse are revoked. Even so, it is best to create an entirely new Will. One of the reasons is that your Will is used to name a guardian for your children. If you have children with your ex-spouse, and barring any ruling to the contrary, if one spouse dies, the court will most likely award the surviving spouse custody. In the event that both parents are unavailable, your designation of a Guardian may control who raises your children depending on the circumstances. You will also want to change the Executor and Beneficiaries named in your Will.

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Be Active, Be Through

Some things to consider:

First and foremost, talk to an Estate Planning Attorney like myself
Re-do your Will
Re-do your Revocable Living Trust

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Change the beneficiary on the various accounts you own where you’ve named your now ex-spouse as the beneficiary such as:

Life Insurance
Power of Attorney
Health Care Power of Attorney (also called an Advance Healthcare Directive)
Retirement accounts
Bank accounts
Check your vehicle titles
Check your deeds to any Real Property

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As I said before, divorce is a mess. I can help you clean-up your estate plan and help you get these things behind you so that you can move forward with your life.

Please feel free to give me a call today and we can review your situation and Estate Plan goals.

William Daniel Powell (Dan)

619-980-2297

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****Reminder****

Just like my website, nothing in this blog is intended as legal advice. If you need legal advice, contact an attorney licensed to practice in your jurisdiction. I am licensed to practice law in California. Further, please remember that I speak in generalities in my blog (and on my website). There are so many different factors that can contribute and completely change the outcome that it would not be practical to discuss all of them here. This is why I speak in generalities. Thanks again for reading.

Call and Speak With Mr. Powell Now

The first step is fast and easy. Just tell us a few things. The next step will be a call from attorney Dan Powell and you will be well on your way to learning about your options, caring for your loved ones, and having a solid, attorney designed and drafted estate plan!

Customer Testimonials

We hired William Daniel Powell to do an estate plan for us. Dan was professional, knowledgeable and extremely patient. For our convenience he conducted all meetings at our home. Dan stepped us through the entire process answering all of our questions as well as making suggestions. He provided a mobile notary and presented us with all documents in a bound folder. We are extremely pleased his service and reasonable fees.

B.G.

My wife and I hired Dan to help us put together a trust. With our busy life, Dan was willing to accommodate our busy schedule and come to the house on several occasions. We felt his knowledge and service were top notch and glad we hired him.

Marc

He was and is terrific, Very Professional, Very Competent, Prompt and very fair fees. He was willing to meet on our schedule at our residence and was very well prepared for the initial review of our goals, continued review / updating with very clear explanations, through the final meetings. Dan (William) aided with our estate planning (our options were discussed, updated our older will, establish a current personal family game plan, and all the related documents to aid in us for the future). He organized a timely meeting with the notary for the final signings and took care of all of the appropriate filings. We have recommended him and will continue to do so in the future.

Kathryn

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