Many individuals neglect an important issue both during and after a divorce. If you and your spouse created an estate plan during your marriage, chances are you may not have the same wishes in your estate plan that you have now. 
Neglecting to consider your estate plan during your divorce and failing to update your estate plan after a divorce can have serious consequences for you and your family. We highly recommend consulting with a divorce attorney and estate attorney (often an attorney or law firm practices both areas of law) in order to properly agree on property distribution and appropriate updating of the estate plan.
In addition, consulting with a tax attorney is also important when you are going through the divorce process. Asset distribution can have serious tax consequences that may affect how you structure your estate plan in order for you and your estate to avoid high tax payments.
Review Beneficiary and Fiduciary Designations
Chances are that your spouse was designated as your beneficiary on life insurance policies, stocks, bonds, and countless other assets and payable on death accounts. However, you can only change the beneficiaries on the assets the judge allows you to in the final order.
The U.S. Supreme Court held that an ex-wife was allowed to keep the life insurance award and pension as the rightful beneficiary because the ex-husband forgot to change the beneficiary after the divorce.
In addition to reviewing your beneficiaries, you should review the following designations:
- Trustee and any alternate trustees
- Executor or Personal Representative of your will and any alternates
- Agent designated under your power of attorney or health care directive
- Named Guardian of your children
It is important to designate individuals you trust and who allow you to retain control even after death.
Retirement
Many times, retirement must be divided upon completing divorce proceedings. There are two ways a retirement can be divided if it is a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO). The spouse receiving a portion of the other spouse’s retirement can choose to accept a lump sum at the time of divorce to be distributed in monthly allotments.
The alternative is to accept a portion of the pension to be set aside and paid out upon the other spouse’s retirement. The spouse receiving the pension is entitled to any interest earned from the time of divorce to the distribution after retirement.
How retirement is distributed upon death is extremely important to have planned out and memorialized in an estate plan. Having an experienced Tulsa divorce attorney ensures the QDRO is executed properly with the best interest of the client in mind.
Jointly Held Property
The last issue that is important to highlight is how property is titled. At divorce, title is not typically changed, unless the spouse that is distributed the property changes the title (this typically requires the other spouses approval or a divorce decree).
Primarily, divorce does not change joint tenancy titling of property. If, during the divorce process, a spouse dies and property is held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship, then the property automatically passes to the other spouse. As a result, if the spouse who died had children from a different marriage, they may lose their inheritance.
Initial Consultation with a Tulsa Divorce Attorney
Having a divorce attorney that is highly skilled will ensure that your assets are properly distributed. Your divorce attorney will also be able to assist in referring you to an equally skilled estate and tax attorney to ensure your future is protected.
Hiring an knowledgeable divorce attorney will ensure the process is expertly conducted and your interests are well represented.
Contact an experienced Tulsa child custody lawyer when you need to go through the Oklahoma relocation process.
For a low-cost confidential consultation, call now: 918-924-5526.