Asset division can be one of the more contentious aspects of divorce cases in Cranberry Township. Dividing up your marital property with your spouse requires quite a bit of give and take from both of you. Yet at least that ends once your divorce becomes final, right? Not necessarily; there may be other aspects of your life where you will need to address the financial ties that you have to your ex-spouse. One of these is your estate planning. When clients come to us here at the Sweeney Law Offices, LLC asking about this, their main concerns center on updating their wills in order to ensure that their ex-spouses are not inadvertently included in them. While there are indeed reasons to address your estate plans following your divorce, they often differ from what you might guess.
Yet first it is important it address the concern of removing your ex-spouse from your will. Section 2507 of Pennsylvania’s Decedents, Estates and Fiduciaries Code states that any provisions of your will that involve your ex-spouse automatically are invalidated when you divorce (unless you include language detailing your desire for them to remain in your will). Thus, you do not need to worry about them inheriting your estate of you forget to remove them from your will.
Yet you will still want to revisit your will following your divorce. You will likely want to update its terms to name new beneficiaries (as your ex-spouse’s designated portion of your estate may become subject to intestate succession if you do not). You may also want to still include your ex-spouse in your estate plans as a trustee to whatever assets you leave your children should you die while they are still young.
More information on asset considerations following your divorce can be found throughout our site.
