Getting divorced is rarely simple, and its effects extend into every area of your life. This is especially true when it comes to property division. Here in Texas, we use community property guidelines to determine how property gets divided in divorce, and those same guidelines can wreak havoc on your estate plan if you do not carefully update your will as part of your divorce process.
Texas courts may go as far as to completely invalidate your will if you do not update it immediately after a divorce. To safeguard against this, it is wise to update your will and make sure that you name exactly who you wish to have as your new set of beneficiaries once the divorce finalizes.
Of course, in some cases, you may wish to leave your former spouse as a beneficiary, particularly if you have underage children together. In this case, it vitally important that you update your will to include your former spouse once the divorce finalizes — otherwise, the state may automatically revoke your former spouse’s status as beneficiary, especially of any life insurance policy.
The important thing is to make sure that you don’t leave an old will untouched after you divorce. Doing so can create all kinds of frustrating legal issues and end up costing you far more time and money than it takes to update the will properly.
Your divorce might be a messy matter, but it shouldn’t last forever. Be sure to get all the legal guidance you need to settle your divorce and keep it settled by dealing with divorce issues sooner than later.