Your will and other estate planning documents need to be updated when circumstances in your life change. For instance, when your marital status changes.
Here is how a change in your marital status can affect your estate plan:
You get married or divorced
If you drafted your will when single, you should add your spouse after getting married. Being a community property state, California offers legal protections to spouses – a surviving spouse has a legal right to their share of the community property even if a will does not name them as a beneficiary. The court will presume the spouse was unintentionally omitted from the will. Therefore, your spouse is entitled to an inheritance.
However, adding them to your will allows you to be clear about how you want to distribute your assets. You can make special arrangements to ensure they are protected financially as you wish.
If your spouse was a beneficiary in your will but you have since dissolved or annulled the marriage, you can remove them. In California, divorce automatically revokes any provisions in an estate plan that name an ex-spouse. Nonetheless, it’s best to update your will to avoid confusion. Besides, the revocation might only apply to your will, not your trust, power of attorney, life insurance policies or retirement accounts. You need to make changes to all your documents.
If you had named your ex-spouse as your executor, the divorce will automatically revoke that special power. Thus, you need to name someone else. If you wish to retain your spouse as your estate’s executor, express so in your will.
Your marital status directly affects the provisions of your will. If you get married, divorced or remarried, you need to update your estate planning documents. Learn more to ensure your documents reflect your current situation.