What Happens To Your Estate Plan If You File For Divorce?

For people still in love with a spouse whose feelings have changed, divorce is the worst-case scenario.  For couples who are at their wits’ end with each other, staying together until the bitter end is worse.  Little do they know that it is much worse than either of those scenarios is when one spouse dies when it is not clear whether the couple is still married.  According to Florida law, the couple is still legally married until the moment the judge issues the divorce decree.  Therefore, if one spouse dies while the couple’s divorce is pending, it is as though the divorce filing never existed.  All the provisions of the will that pertain to the spouse are still valid, just as they would be if the parties had resolved their differences in the decedent spouse’s final moments.  Therefore, estate planning lawyers encourage couples who have filed for divorce to revise their wills, disinheriting their spouses, and to sign postnuptial agreements to match the new will.  A will is only part of an estate plan, though.  For help revising your other estate planning documents after you have filed for divorce, contact an Orlando estate planning lawyer.

Florida Law Revokes Some Estate Planning Documents When the Divorce Becomes Final, but Some Documents Become Invalid When One Spouse Files for Divorce

There is more to estate planning than deciding who will inherit your property when you die.  Your estate plan also includes provisions about your medical care and financial maintenance when you are elderly or infirm.  Gray divorce, where the parties are above the age of 50, accounts for an increasing share of divorce cases.  Burt and Lovey Handelsman, the Florida real estate power couple who went through a years-long divorce battle as octogenarians, are more unusual for their vast marital wealth than for their age at the time of their divorce.

Here is how divorce affects some estate planning documents other than your will:

• Power of attorney – A provision listing your spouse as agent becomes final when you file for divorce.
• Healthcare surrogate – The provisions in this document that pertain to your spouse remain valid until the divorce is final. A healthcare surrogate is also called a medical power of attorney, advance directive, or living will.
• Declaration of preneed guardian – The court will decide on a case-by-case basis whether the pending divorce constitutes a conflict of interest.
• Beneficiary designation for non-probate assets – Your spouse retains his or her status as a beneficiary of your life insurance policy, transfer on death (TOD) account, or payable on death (POD) account until the divorce becomes final.

The best time to revise your estate plan to reflect your change in marital status is as soon as you file for divorce.

Contact Gierach and Gierach About Updating Your Estate Plan

An estate planning lawyer can help you revise your estate plan to reflect your impending divorce.  Contact Gierach and Gierach, P.A. in Orlando, Florida to discuss your case.

Source:

floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/estate-planning-issues-in-a-divorce-situation-ii-an-update-and-standing-orders/