Divorce can alter your life, meddle with your family affairs, and leave you feeling emotionally overwhelmed. Moreover, a divorce filing can have severe implications on your estate planning, including your will or your trust.
We explore how can a divorce filing impacts your will and what happens if you don’t work to create a new will.
What Does The Law Say?
Most states, including Nevada, will deem your will valid; however, upon divorce, all estate planning that includes your ex-spouse as a beneficiary is automatically revoked. In that case, your will is still valid, but your assets revert to your contingent beneficiaries.
Your will would then become subject to the rules of intestacy. This will provide for your beneficiaries, but it might not benefit them in the same way you’d like: the intestacy rules might not provide your new partners or new relatives in your life.
What Happens To Your Original Will?
Unlike marriage, your divorce doesn’t revoke your last will. If you don’t get the chance to update your will, it will most likely become subject to intestacy. Your ex-spouse will be treated as if they don’t exist anymore. While this might keep them from claiming a share in your property, it can have severe implications on the share of other beneficiaries.
Since no updated will is available, the law requires that the intestacy rules decide the fate of your estate. Your beneficiaries might not get the share they deserve, and any new partners might be entirely left out during the inheritance.
Why You Need To Draft a New Will
Updating your will ensures that your successors and your loved ones are bequeathed as you please. Moreover, updating your will from the latest ensures that no ex-partner shows up to challenge your last will demanding financial provisions.
Having an updated will would ensure that your successors and loved ones don’t have to go through legal complications. They will get access to their fair share of the inheritance in the most convenient way.
Working with a family attorney experienced with divorce or property distribution can help you steer through the Nevada state laws.
Anderson Keuscher PLLC can help guide you through the divorce filing and will planning process. We are a team of competent family law lawyers who specialize in divorce proceedings, property distribution affairs, and child custody matters. We work with our clients to ensure that they receive their legal rights in the fairest and most convenient way.
Head to our website to learn more about our family law lawyers experienced in divorce and property distribution.