A divorce forces spouses to retread many things that need to be divided, such as houses, cars, and financial holdings. Perhaps one of the most complicated is redrawing any estate plans, including wills, trusts, and guardianship for children.

Familiarize Yourself with Existing Estate Plans

Your will, insurance policies, trusts, power of attorney, and more most likely were planned together. These documents will need to updated, altered, or completely replaced as a divorce almost always alters beneficiaries, care proxies, and child support following death.

Get an Estate Planner to Work with Your Attorney

Attorneys will advocate for your best interests and help reach an agreement in now estate plans should be revised. However, an estate planner can go through and draft new documents to reflect the division of the estate and any reallocation of funds. An estate planner will work with you and your attorneys to figure out a strategy to handle items like who pays estate taxes, if you will be protected from federal and state taxes after the divorce, how alimony will be paid should the other spouse pass away, and many other factors that individuals overlook.

Prenuptial Agreements

Prenuptial agreements are regularly used to protect both spouses in case of separation or divorce. However, most prenuptial agreements are set aside or completely forgotten after the first year or so of a marriage. What many people do not realize is that a prenuptial agreement can greatly impact estate planning when a divorce occurs. The agreement can be used as a paper trail to determine which assets – including retirement plans and insurance policies – were brought into the marriage by which spouse.

At Goodwyn Law Firm LLC, we help our clients with their estate plans during a divorce. We also assist our clients in keeping their existing estate plans updated so they are prepared in case a marriage dissolves. Our team has the expertise and years of success in helping our clients reach the outcomes they want and deserve. Contact Goodwyn Law Firm LLC today.