Few events in your life can be as chaotic as a divorce, especially a contested one. If you’ve never been through it before, you may not know exactly what to expect or what to do after serving the papers. The aftermath can be expensive, unpredictable, and painful if you haven’t been able to prepare for the fallout. If you have an estate plan in place, you may want to make sure it’s protected. A St. Charles, MO divorce lawyer can help you ensure your plan is updated.

The Many Ways Divorce Can Impact Your Estate Plan

There are a lot of different ways that your divorce can impact your estate plan, and it’s important that you try to address as many of them as you can. That way, you can avoid further complications when the time comes for your estate plan to be enacted. If you and your partner were married for a long time, there’s a strong chance that you established an estate plan together. After divorce, your estate plan may no longer resemble your intentions. This needs to be fixed.

It’s vital to your financial future, as well as your family’s, that you work with a divorce lawyer or estate planning lawyer to clear your spouse out of your estate plan. Otherwise, when you pass away or become medically incapacitated, they may still have power of attorney over your plan and could make declarations that go against your wishes. Legally, they would have power over your estate.

Changing your estate plan, working out child custody, and figuring out spousal support are all important aspects of your divorce that you will need to consider with the help of your lawyer. You should update your estate plan any time you have a major life event, such as a divorce, a marriage, a death, a birth, or an adoption. Thankfully, in Missouri, your spouse is automatically excluded from your will upon divorce, but it doesn’t hurt to check.

According to the CDC, the divorce rate in Missouri in 2022 was around 2.7 per 1,000 residents, which means Missouri is a state with one of the highest divorce rates in the country, just below the national average. Many of those divorces include comprehensive estate plans that need to be adjusted. If you are feeling aimless after your divorce, you may want to reach out to a local St. Charles divorce support group, such as DivorceCare or Singles Again. It might help you.

Why Update Your Estate Plan?

There are many reasons why you should consider updating your estate plan. The most important one is peace of mind. The whole reason you would establish an estate plan in the first place is to ensure that your loved ones are taken care of in accordance with your wishes after you pass away. After a divorce, your definition of close family may have changed drastically, and you want to make sure your plan reflects your new wishes. A good lawyer can help you with that.

You should understand that an estate plan is a series of complex documents that are established over time to make up the plan. Ultimately, it’s an outline for your wishes regarding your estate and your medical treatment should that be an issue. You may want to revoke your spouse’s power of attorney to ensure they can’t make any decisions about your life if you are ever medically incapacitated.

FAQs

Q: Is an Estate Plan Protected in a Divorce Automatically?

A: No, an estate plan is not automatically protected in a divorce. It is up to you to ensure that your estate plan reflects your wishes. If your wishes change due to divorce, you must go into your plan and make the necessary changes. Your lawyer can go in and make these changes for you, but if the changes are so drastic that they basically invalidate the plan, you may want to start from scratch.

Q: Do I Need a Lawyer to Update My Plan?

A: You technically do not need to hire a lawyer to make changes to your estate plan. If you know how to do it, feel free to make the changes you need to make on your own. However, if you have never had to make these changes before and don’t know where to start, it may be a good idea to retain the services of an experienced estate planning lawyer who can help you make those changes.

Q: When Should I Update My Plan?

A: You can update your estate plan whenever you want. Many people may choose to update their estate plan following a major life event, such as a marriage, a divorce, a birth, a death, or an adoption. Any time somebody joins or leaves your family, you may want to adjust your plan to reflect the new circumstances of your life. After a divorce, you should consider acting quickly to erase your ex from your plan.

Q: What Is the Purpose of Estate Planning?

A: The primary purpose of estate planning is to make sure that your loved ones are taken care of and protected when you pass away. You may want to leave your friends and family with a piece of your estate to make sure they have something of yours for sentimental or financial reasons. Without a plan, the court will make its own decision on how to distribute your assets, and it may ignore your wishes entirely.

Contact an Experienced Estate Planning Lawyer Today

Going through a divorce can be troublesome enough without also having to go back into your estate plan and make changes. However, if you don’t ensure your estate plan is protected, the consequences could be disastrous if something ever happens to you. A good lawyer can help you look into your options and make sure your plan is sound.

The legal team at Stange Law Firm can provide you with the resources you need to protect your estate plan. Contact us to speak to a valued team member about your case today.