Is your paperwork starting to pile up? Divorce is complicated in many ways and re-organizing your affairs adds another burdensome layer.
Beyond your divorce proceedings, you may want to think about other legal documents that your life change may directly impact.
Durable power of attorney
Maybe you already appointed your former spouse as your power of attorney when you were married, but will your divorce automatically revoke the designation? This may depend on the verbiage in the document itself and the statutes in the state of residency and state of origin.
Healthcare surrogate
Although a power of attorney can make financial and property decisions on your behalf, you may want to ascribe an individual to make health-related decisions for you if you become incapacitated. This is often a separate legal document to the power of attorney, and you may also include your advanced directives or a living will to specify your wishes.
Last will and testament
Do you already have a will that includes a designee for payment of debts, property ownership, and personal representative powers? If your last will lists your spouse as your personal representative, you may wish to administer a new will that explicitly states the revocation of former wills. If you have children, you may also need to make important guardianship decisions within this document.
Beneficiary designations
Review your retirement accounts, investments, and life insurance policies for which you had to assign a beneficiary. If you do not want your ex-spouse listed any longer, you may need to resubmit paperwork with each account to update your designations.
Because you have experienced a significant life change through the dissolution of your marriage, this may be an opportune time to organize your affairs and your wishes. Take one day, one step and one document at a time.
