Let’s say you get divorced but you don’t modify your will or change your bank accounts. What happens at the time of your death if your ex-wife is the beneficiary of your will and other assets are held jointly with your ex-wife?
New York State Law
Under New York State Estate Powers and Trusts Law Section 5-1.4, unless a will expressly states otherwise, divorce, judicial separation or annulment of a marriage revokes all dispositions or appointments of property made by the divorced spouse to a former spouse. Your former spouse would be treated as if he or she died before you. This means that any clause which would have named your former spouse as a beneficiary under you Will is revoked.
In addition, if you are divorced, your ex-spouse also loses his or her rights to inherit from your bank accounts, life insurance policies, revokable trusts, and real estate interests involving joint tenancies.
Housekeeping Needed After Your Divorce
If you get divorced, it is important to go through all of your financial documents and records. Your ex-spouse’s name should be removed from being a beneficiary on your life insurance. You should also notify your health insurance carrier that he or she is no longer married to you. In addition, you should remove your spouse’s name from your bank accounts, securities accounts, and financial accounts of every type and nature. If you have a Will, you should meet with the attorney who drafted the Will and draft a new Will.
Between the attorneys fees involved in the divorce, the child support, spousal maintenance, and division of assets pursuant to the terms of the divorce, your net worth will be diminished. You should carefully review all of your financial assets to make sure that upon your death, your ex-wife will not be in a position to seek to try to inherit and possibly cause litigation. Even though if you don’t disinherit her, the statutes in New York cause her to be disinherited, it is still better to change the documents to avoid the potential complications and legal expenses.
