Estate planning after remarriage isn’t really much more complicated than usual.

But it might be more difficult. You’ll need to decide if you still want to leave anything to your ex and how your property will be divided between your new spouse, children, and stepchildren. Tough decisions!

To make it a little easier, here are the 5 steps you need to take after remarriage.

1. List Your Assets

Before you can dive into estate planning, you will need to know exactly what you’re working with. Make a comprehensive  list of all properties, assets, life insurance policies, and retirement accounts. Encourage your new spouse to do the same. Lay it all out on the table – literally.

2. Change Your Will

If you pass away, leaving behind an outdated will, it’s impossible to tell exactly what will happen to your property. Probatelaws vary from state to state. Some states consider your will revoked when you get remarried, but others may still distribute your assets to your ex-spouse. You can’t depend on probate court to know what’s best. It’s up to you to make your wishes crystal clear in your will.

It’s not enough to cross out your ex’s name and pencil in your new spouse. Your changes must be witnessed and signed.

You can create a codicil of your will, which is a document that you attach to your will to add changes – sort of like a P.S. after a letter. However, the updates you’ll need to make are likely going to be drastic enough that it’s best to revoke your old will by tearing up the original and copies and create a new one. It’s important to be clear and specific about your needs – any ambiguity could slow down the probate process or make it impossible for the right property to go to the right people.

3. Update Your Beneficiaries

Remember to update the beneficiaries on your life insurance and retirement accounts. If you do not remove your ex as a beneficiary and name your new spouse, your ex will get the proceeds.

You’ll have to reevaluate your insurance needs after remarriage. The revisions you need will depend on your specific situation, including whether or not you pay alimony or child support or have stepchildren who you’d like to benefit.

4. Update Your Power Of Attorney

You’re probably going to want your new spouse to make medical and financial decisions for you if you’re ever incapacitated. Basically, if you’re in a coma you may want to give your spouse authority to pull (or not pull) the plug. You probably don’t want to accidentally leave these rights to your ex!

If you created a power of attorney for your last spouse, you will need to revoke it. You can do this by creating a letter of revocation of your power of attorney. You’ll then send the revocation to your ex and any banks or institutions that might have the old POA on file.

5. Get A Living Trust

Revocable living trusts are a very useful estate planning option in general, but they’re especially useful for second marriages for a few reasons.

First of all, trusts are private documents. Unlike wills, which can be viewed by the public after you die, once they’re filed by probate court trusts are not meant to be viewed by just anyone. Many celebrities, like Michael Jackson, create trusts for this reason. When you have multiple marriages, you might find it best to keep your estate plans private.

Trusts also give you more control over how your property is distributed. When you create a trust you can choose a trustee, who will gain ownership of everything in the trust as soon as you pass away. When you leave behind property in a will it won’t be distributed until your estate goes through probate court, which can take a long time.

If your second marriage might make your will more prone to court disputes, a trust helps by giving you “the last word” from beyond the grave – it’s much more difficult to challenge a trust. Keep in mind that it’s expensive and difficult to successfully content a trust or a will: the contester would have to prove that you were not of sound mind when you created your estate documents.

Estate Planning After Remarriage, Made Easy

Get your will, living trust, and power of attorney at NextGenJustice. We make estate planning fast, affordable, and super easy so you can get back to enjoying your new marriage. Just contact us through our simple contact form, or stop by any of our neighborhood store locations in New York and Florida.

Derek Distenfield is CEO and Co-founder of NextGenJustice which offers legal and tax solutions without lawyers in four main areas: family, business, estate, and tax preparation. More articles can be found at https://nextgenjustice.com/blog/.

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