The U.S. has a high divorce rate. Nearly half of all marriages end in divorce.
The rates are even higher for second and third marriages. One of the issues concerning the high divorce rate is that people get distracted by the divorce itself and then fail to update their estate planning afterwards.
Ex-spouses are routinely left in many estate plans.
If an ex-spouse is mentioned in a will that was executed before the divorce, then in most instances the ex-spouse will be constructively written out of the will by a court.
However, that means that the deceased does not get to make a decision about where the ex-spouse’s portion of the estate should go, and other legal instruments do not necessarily automatically exclude an ex-spouse.
Recently, the Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Bloglisted some things that need to be done after a divorce in “Don’t Let Divorce Distract You from Important Estate Planning Considerations,” including:
Reference: Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog(Jan. 11, 2018) “Don’t Let Divorce Distract You from Important Estate Planning Considerations.”Estate Planning After Divorce