The Fifth "Must Do" After Your Divorce

Today I am going to talk about some of the most important steps you should take in your divorce action and they're actually after the divorce is over. There are five "must do's" to protect yourself, which I will be covering during the next few days.

The Fifth “to Do” after your divorce is to protect your estate and your heirs

It is essential to update your estate plan. A good estate plan can clarify all of your wishes and will pave the way for your heirs to receive their just inheritance.

Some of the aspects you may not think of with an estate plan are the living will or otherwise known as a health care directive. This directive appoints someone to take care of the health decisions for you if you're unable to do so. I really doubt you want your former spouse in charge of pulling the plug if something happens to you.

Also, a will or a testamentary trust can provide a lot of other benefits. They can give you the right to choose the guardian of your minor children in case something happens to your spouse. They can name whoever you wish to administer your estate, pay your debts, maybe sell some assets and distribute what's left to the heirs.

You can name someone as trustee so that they can distribute the estate to your heirs at an age that you feel is appropriate and in the meantime they will manage the estate for them.

Finally, depending upon the laws in effect at the time of your death, you may be able to do some estate planning and avoid some taxes.

If issues arise post divorce, consider mediation. Divorce Mediation is a great method of resolving issues and the sooner that you address them, the easier and more comfortable they are to resolve. Once an issue has time to fester, finding a good solution acceptable to both parties will be much more difficult.

Divorce Mediation will save you time, money and most important, will take the stress away from you and your children by facing issues head-on when first discovered. Keep a divorce mediator handy for any post divorce issues which may arise.