When thinking about estate planning, most people only look to the future, and forget about the decisions they made in the past. Countless times in handling probate and trust administration cases we have seen the surviving family come to us and proudly claim that all beneficiary designations were clearly handled, only to find that a life insurance policy or retirement account created 15 years ago still has the ex spouse or partner as the beneficiary. This is an easily avoidable conflict, but something that not everyone thinks of.
More concerning are the challenges that arise when there are young children involved and proper planning hasn’t yet occurred.
Martha J. Hartney Esq. wrote an interesting article last month on how to draft a letter to your former spouse or partner to adequately and appropriately address concerns around these issues and, more importantly, any guardianship issues in case of emergency.
Click here for the whole article.
