People who are going through a divorce in Ohio have a lot of factors that they have to think about. While many people focus on things like property division and child custody, there’s something else they need to think about—their estate plan.
If you had an estate plan before the divorce, there’s a good chance that you have your ex-spouse named in the will. You may also have them named as power of attorney for your health care, finances or both. When you file for divorce, the power of attorney designations are revoked, and the provisions in your will for your ex are voided when the divorce is finalized.
What should you do?
One of the most important things to do is to review the power of attorney designations once the divorce is filed and update those. If you opt to keep your ex over those duties, you must make it clear that you did so after the filing of the divorce.
After the divorce is finalized, you need to update your will. It’s not a good idea to do this prior to the finalization because you can’t be fully sure about what assets you’ll need to include. Once you have the property division set, you can create an estate plan that only includes the property you own.
Ensuring that your estate plan reflects your current wishes is critical. Working with someone who is familiar with these matters may be beneficial to help you make sure that you have everything in order.