You need to ensure your estate plan is up to date with changes in your life. One event that could require a major update to your estate plan is a divorce.
Here are some of the measures that could require you to take:
Update your assets
Property division can be a harrowing process in a divorce. You might have worked hard to ensure you had assets in place for your retirement and to pass down to your loved ones. A divorce may see some of those assets go to the person you are divorcing, leaving you with less to see you through your later years and less to pass on to the people or causes you care about.
Once the divorce is done, work through your estate plan removing all reference to property you no longer have, and reconsider how you wish to distribute what you are left with.
Update your beneficiary designations
Many assets require you to designate a beneficiary on the documentation of the asset itself. That could be true for some of the life insurance policies or retirement funds you have. If your ex is still down as the beneficiary, they will still get that asset, even if you remarry or rewrite your will to say you do not want them to get anything. The only way to have someone else receive such assets is to make them the designated beneficiary on the asset document.
Reconsider your powers of attorney
Many married folk make give their spouses powers of attorney to cover things such as health care decisions and legal or financial transactions. If you wish to replace them, you will need to do so via your estate planning documents, as the divorce alone won’t take those responsibilities from them.
Guidance can be helpful when first making an estate plan, and when reviewing it to account for changes in your life such as divorce.