Update Your Estate Plan As Your Marital Status Is Changing
Certain transitions in life naturally lend themselves to a fresh focus on estate planning. As you prepare for marriage, reconcile with your spouse after a separation, start a business or head toward divorce, your estate plan also needs attention.
Two types of marital agreements – a premarital agreement and a partition agreement (a postmarital or postnuptial agreement) – allow spouses to create legally binding documents clarifying their understandings about ownership of assets in a marriage. Either type of marital agreement may be especially important when there are substantial assets or when either spouse has children from a previous relationship. Such agreements can spell out how assets would be divided in the event of divorce. Bandoske & Butler, PLLC, advises clients on marital agreements, also helping to ensure that they align properly with wills, trusts and powers of attorney.
The Impact Your Divorce May Have On Your Estate Plan
Legally speaking, marriage or divorce has much to do with property ownership. The same is true of the settling of an estate. You and your spouse may have created an estate plan together. For these reasons, it is smart – and likely necessary – to update your estate plan at the time of a divorce or when you create a marital agreement. Assets to be taken into account include:
- Real estate titling
- Real estate ownership after marriage or after a divorce
- Business interests
- Professional practices (such as a medical practice, a law practice or an accounting firm)
- Ownership and/or division of financial accounts such as bank accounts, cybercurrency accounts, investment accounts and retirement accounts
- Ownership of personal property such as vehicles, collectibles and household goods
- Stocks, bonds and deferred executive compensation
Other matters to consider include powers of attorney, life insurance beneficiaries, health savings account beneficiaries and special assets such as time shares and gun trusts.
Our Family Law Firm Can Facilitate A Well-Coordinated Estate Plan
As you approach a marriage or a divorce or experience any other significant change in your family structure, consult with a family law attorney who also prepares estate plans. At Bandoske & Butler, PLLC, we are pleased to provide our clients with peace of mind through estate planning advice and assistance along with divorce representation.
We encourage you to talk with your financial adviser and consider tax implications as you approach marriage or divorce. Our attorneys offer personalized counsel at any point along the way. Schedule a consultation by calling 210-953-8415 or email us for a prompt response.