Estate Planning After a Divorce

 Posted on September 10, 2025 in Estate Planning

Divorce changes nearly every aspect of your financial and personal life. Everybody knows this, yet one area many people overlook is the impact of divorce on estate planning. Once your marriage is legally dissolved, the plans you created while married probably no longer reflect your wishes. This means that reviewing and updating your estate plan after divorce is essential for protecting your assets and ensuring they are passed on to the right people while avoiding probate.

If you have recently gotten divorced, it is well worth your while to discuss your estate plan with an experienced Barrington wills and trusts lawyer. We can review your current plan, help you update existing documents, and add any further estate planning tools that you need.

Why You Should Update Your Estate Plan After a Divorce

In Illinois, divorce automatically revokes certain provisions in wills and trusts that benefit an ex-spouse. However, this revocation does not apply to everything. Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, life insurance policies, or payable-on-death accounts may remain unchanged unless you update them. Without careful planning, your former spouse could still inherit significant assets despite the divorce.

Another important consideration is guardianship. If you named your spouse as a guardian for your children, you may want to update your designation. While Illinois courts typically prefer the other parent as guardian if available, you can still nominate someone you trust if your ex-spouse is unable or unfit.

What to Change in Your Estate Plan After Divorce

The process of updating your estate plan involves more than changing one or two documents. It requires a comprehensive review of all legal instruments tied to your assets. Important steps include reviewing your will, updating trusts, changing beneficiary designations, revising powers of attorney, and considering new guardianship nominations.

Your will should be updated to remove your former spouse and reflect your new intentions for distributing property. If you created a revocable living trust during your marriage, you may need to amend or restate it. All retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and transfer-on-death accounts should be updated with new beneficiaries.

Durable powers of attorney and healthcare powers of attorney should be revised so that your former spouse no longer controls your financial or medical decisions. Finally, if you have children, you should reconsider who you wish to nominate as their guardian.

Contact a Barrington, IL Estate Planning Lawyer

Your estate plan should reflect your current circumstances, not your past. After a divorce, taking the time to update your documents ensures that your assets are protected and your wishes are honored.

With more than 35 years of experience, a Barrington estate planning attorney at Lucas Law can help you navigate these changes and create a plan that gives you peace of mind. Call 847-381-8700 today to schedule a consultation.