Estate Planning & Family Law: Divorce & Beyond

Estate planning, such as creating or modifying wills, trusts, and beneficiary designations during significant life changes such as divorce, remarriage, and family blending, involves both estate planning and family law considerations. Because these fields of law can intersect during events like these, a thorough and strategic legal approach is crucial to protect your interests and assets. This article delves into how estate planning intersects with family law, focusing on specific considerations when managing your estate through these significant life events.

Family Law: Estate Planning and Divorce

Divorce is a family law matter that can present unique challenges for estate planning. However, with a sound legal strategy, you can protect your assets and ensure your wishes are respected during divorce proceedings. Essential estate planning considerations during a divorce include:

  • Modifying wills and trusts: Excluding your soon-to-be ex-spouse in your will or trust must only be done after divorce grounds are established to avoid elective share claims. Ensure transparency in creating or modifying trusts to prevent future disputes.
  • Updating beneficiary designations: Changing beneficiary designations on non-probate assets like life insurance and retirement accounts can prevent your soon-to-be ex-spouse from receiving these benefits. However, this typically needs to be done after a divorce is granted, as a spouse would generally be required to sign off on any updates to a beneficiary designation that removes them as the beneficiary.
  • Appointing new executors and agents: Removing your soon-to-be ex-spouse as an executor or agent in powers of attorney (POAs) can prevent conflicts of interest and ensure the estate is managed according to your wishes. It’s also crucial to notify the former agent under a POA of revoking the old POA to ensure the change is legally recognized.

Family Law: Estate Planning and Remarriage

Remarriage is another instance where estate planning intersects with family law. Before remarrying, review your estate planning strategies to ensure your assets are protected and your wishes are honored.

Essential estate planning considerations during remarriage include:

  • Creating trusts: Trusts can protect assets from being considered marital property, securing them from potential disputes.
  • Executing prenuptial agreements: Prenuptial agreements that include language about existing and future trust interests can safeguard your assets.
  • Reviewing and updating estate plans: Modifications to wills, living wills, and powers of attorney can help ensure your new spouse is provided for according to your wishes.

Family Law: Estate Planning and Blended Families

Blended families offer unique opportunities for thoughtful estate planning. The goal is to ensure your wishes for your new spouse and any children from previous relationships are honored. Essential estate planning considerations when blending families include:

  • Establishing living trusts: A living trust can manage assets for your new spouse, children from prior marriages, and any additional children you have together, specifying their use and distribution. Trusts for minor children can strategically manage their inheritance without directly naming them as beneficiaries, avoiding legal complications.
  • Setting up guardianships: Designating guardians for minor children from previous relationships ensures they are cared for according to your wishes and helps prevent legal disputes among surviving family members.
  • Clarifying beneficiary designations: Designating beneficiaries for all assets can help avoid conflicts. Review and update them regularly to reflect the family structure and ensure children from previous relationships are provided for according to your wishes.

Choose an Experienced Estate Planning Attorney

The intersection of estate planning and family law, particularly during divorce, remarriage, and in blended families, requires careful and strategic planning. Ensure that wills, living trusts, and living wills are up-to-date and reflect your current wishes. By addressing these issues proactively, you can protect your assets, provide for your loved ones, and avoid potential legal disputes. If you’re looking for an experienced estate planning attorney who understands the intersection of family law during divorce and remarriage, contact us. Since 1993, Jeremy Mittman has helped clients in Pennsylvania navigate these complexities for security and peace of mind.

As a veteran elder law attorney serving Montgomery, Philadelphia, and Bucks Counties, Jeremy Mittman specializes in all aspects of estate planning and elder law, including estate administration, guardianship, asset protection, and more. He has helped individuals and families translate their success into a meaningful and lasting legacy for over four decades. Contact us to learn more about our services, the types of estate administration fees, and how we can help you plan and probate your estate.

We’d Like To Help You Protect Your Legacy

For more than a century, we have worked with individuals and families to translate their success into a meaningful and lasting legacy. Let us help you plan and probate your estate. Contact Us Today (215) 822-9750 for a FREE consultation.

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