In an article published on September 10, 2024, in The Daily Record, Paul Riekhof discusses the estate planning changes individuals need to take once their divorce is final to ensure that their children or other beneficiaries are provided for in the event of their passing and to prevent their ex-spouse from receiving an unintentional windfall.
Paul notes that Maryland law does provide some help to people who do not take the initiative to change their estate plans upon divorce, but it does not do a very good job – certainly not as well as addressing these issues directly. For example, a divorce decree will revoke all provisions in a will and a revocable living trust that benefit or empower an ex-spouse but will not produce a similar automatic impact on predivorce beneficiary designations. Another complicating issue is that many assets governed by beneficiary designations may also be subject to federal law, which generally preempts state law.
Click here to read “How does a divorce impact predivorce estate planning?” (PDF) for a complete list of the changes that may need to be made to your estate plan once your divorce is final.
