Understanding How Divorce Impacts Your Property Plan – New York Property Planning Lawyer Weblog – Jun 5, 2021

While Bill Gates prepares to go through the Divorce proceedings, divorce has returned to public awareness, leading many people to question the way marriages break up and how it affects various aspects of our lives. An often overlooked aspect of divorce is how it can affect overall plans for the future.

To minimize the potential impact of divorce on their lives, many influential couples, including Bill and Melinda Gates, enter into settlement agreements. But even ordinary couples are discovering that divorce has the potential to affect their inheritance plans. This article discusses some of the key questions couples should consider, how divorce can affect estate plans and what you can do to ensure your estate plan continues to meet your goals.

Life insurance

Life insurance is often used as a divorce planning tool. Life insurance can play a valuable role for couples with younger children and dependents. The divorce may be an appropriate time to screen beneficiaries or take out life insurance to help meet planning goals.

Pensions

Many people list a spouse in their retirement or other retirement accounts and then forget they did. While your pension may be lifelong, you may also have opted for a “community and survivor’s pension,” which means that all or part of your monthly income goes to your beneficiary. Therefore, it is important to ensure that these accounts are appropriately updated to ensure that your assets are transferred to the appropriate beneficiary.

Powers of attorney

It is a common strategy to have a spouse under a. to appoint Power of attorney to make financial or health-related decisions. If you are getting divorced, it is important to ensure that these documents designate someone else with such a role.

title

The question of the title of a property is often a critical issue in divorce so that ownership of various properties is not adversely affected by the dissolution of a marriage. If a spouse receives property that the couple owned together prior to the divorce, that property should be renamed appropriately to reflect that property. Titling bank accounts and other assets is also critical.

Trusts

Divorce is an excellent time to either build a trust or change the terms of an existing one. It’s important to review trusts if you have minor children and want someone other than your ex-spouse to manage the assets that are passed on to your children.

Wills

Many married couples name each other as beneficiaries. When you go

In the event of a divorce, you should review your will to make sure that your assets are being passed on in the manner you want. However, not all assets are transferred under the terms of the will. Instead, some assets will pass as a result of the title, which is why it is also important to ensure that titles are properly recorded.

Talk to an experienced estate planning attorney

Divorce can have a significant impact on your estate plan. To ensure that your estate plan continues to achieve your goals, don’t hesitate to speak to an experienced estate planning attorney. Contact Ettinger law firm today to schedule a free case assessment.