If you’re considering divorce or preparing to start the process, you may not be thinking about the estate plan you put in place when your first child was born or after a friend suddenly died in a car crash or of a heart attack. However, it’s important to review it.
Divorce is definitely one of those life events that warrants some modifications. To know what changes you need to make and when you can make them requires some knowledge of Pennsylvania state laws. Here, we’ll discuss just a couple of questions and concerns that many divorcing Pennsylvanians have about their estate plan.
Removing your spouse as a beneficiary
Pennsylvania law states, “Any provision…in favor of or relating to the testator’s spouse shall become ineffective for all purposes unless it appears from the will that the provision was intended to survive a divorce…” after the divorce is final. It’s also true if the person whose estate plan is involved “dies domiciled in this Commonwealth during the course of divorce proceedings.”
That means any inheritance you designated for your spouse in your will or trust will automatically be nullified when the divorce decree is issued unless you state otherwise. Note that your divorce agreement may require that they are to receive certain assets upon your death.
What about your spouse’s fiduciary duties?
Most people designate their spouse as their executor and health care agent and give them various powers of attorney (POA) over finances and medical decisions. Understandably, you may want to give those responsibilities to someone else.
They don’t have to be held by a person’s spouse, so you likely can name others any time. The law states that once one spouse “files an action in divorce, the designation of the spouse as agent shall be revoked as of the time the action was filed, unless it appears from the power of attorney that the designation was intended to survive such an event.” Again, if you want your spouse to continue to have these fiduciary duties after you begin divorce proceedings, it’s best to clearly codify that.
These are just two things to look at in your estate plan as you divorce. Your assets will likely change as you divide property, for example. You may want to make some changes immediately and need to make other changes during and after the divorce process. It’s wise to get experienced estate planning guidance as early as possible.
