If you are one of the many people who live in California and are embarking on the process of getting divorce, you will very quickly realize that ending your marriage is something that touches every aspect of your life. From daily realities like where you will live to things you don’t often think about, there will be a seemingly unending list of items to address. One of these items should be your estate plan.
As explained by Forbes, there will be some parts of your estate plan that you may not be able to amend until your divorce is completely finalized. This is because you do not know what assets you will or will not retain until that time. Some divorce decrees even stipulate that a former spouse should remain the beneficiary on a person’s life insurance policy.
While you work through the details of your divorce settlement, however, there are some things you can take into your own hands immediately. These involve making decisions for who will have the right and the responsibility to manage your finances or your health should you become unable to do so. A power of attorney and a health care advance directive are two important documents that establish these.
If you would like to learn more about some of the things you should attend to in order to protect your assets and your estate when you get divorced, please feel free to visit the estate planning and marital dissolution page of our California family law and divorce website.