If you have been divorced and remarried, do not consider yourself done with all of the legalities when your divorce is finalized and your marriage license filed. You still need to do some estate planning.
For most people, getting divorced is a legal headache. There is all sorts of legal and financial paperwork that must be gathered, filled out and filed with the court. You might have to go through multiple meetings with attorneys, formal mediation and several court hearings before the process is over. It can take months and in some cases years.
If you go to get remarried, then you have even more legal and financial paperwork that needs to be filled out and filed. While you might want that to be the end of all the legal things you have to do, it is not.
As Splitopia points out in "Protect Those You Love in Divorce, and Remarriage," there are other details you need to mind or avoid them to your peril.
These other things you still need to do include:
- Change Your Estate Plan – Your estate plan likely had your former spouse receiving much of your property. It should be changed immediately after your divorce is final. It should be changed again to include your new spouse when you get remarried.
- Update Beneficiaries – If you have any life insurance policies, retirement accounts or transfer on death bank accounts, then you need to make sure those are changed as well to make sure your former spouse is a beneficiary on them and to include your new spouse if you want to.
After getting divorced and remarried you probably do not want to deal with attorneys for a while. However, estate planning attorneys are only there to assist you and you need their help at that time. Visit with one.
Reference: Splitopia (Oct. 5, 2016) "Protect Those You Love in Divorce, and Remarriage."
