Garland Law Offices, P.A.

A Non-Medical Check Up – For Your Estate Plan

“For example, did you name someone as an heir who is no longer in favor with you or—worse yet—has died? Who should get what they would have gotten? Are there now new people in your life—be they family members or not—whom you might wish to share in what you may have?”

An estate plan isn’t just for you—it’s for those you love. It should include a will and possibly, trusts, a power of attorney for financial affairs and a health care directive. As many as 60% of all Americans don’t have a will. However, the COVID-19 crisis has highlighted for everyone the need to have those documents. For those who have an estate plan, the need for a tune-up has become very clear, says the article “Time for a non-medical checkup? Review your will” from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

With any significant change in your life, a review of your estate plan is in order. Keep in mind that none of your estate planning documents are written in stone. They should be changed when your life does. COVID-19 has also changed many of our lives. Let’s take a look at how.

Has anyone you named as a beneficiary died, or become estranged from you? Will everyone who is a beneficiary in your current estate plan still receive what you had wanted them to receive? Are there new people in your life, family members or otherwise, with whom you want to share your legacy?

The same applies to the person you selected as your executor. As you have aged over the years, so have they. Are they still alive? Are they still geographically available to serve as an executor? Do they still want to take on the responsibilities that come with this role? Family members or trusted friends move, marry, or make other changes in their lives that could cause you to change your mind about their role.

Over time, you may want to change your wishes for your children, or other beneficiaries. Maybe ten years ago you wanted to give everyone an equal share of an inheritance, but perhaps circumstances have changed. Maybe one child has had career success and is a high-income earner, while another child is working for a non-profit and barely getting by. Do you want to give them the same share?

Here’s another thought—if your children have become young adults (in the wink of an eye!), do you want them to receive a large inheritance when they are young adults, or would you want to have some control over when they inherit? Some people stagger inheritances through the use of trusts, and let their children receive significant funds, when they reach certain ages, accomplishments or milestones.

Have you or your children been divorced, since your estate plan was last reviewed? In that case, you really need to get that appointment with an estate planning attorney! Do you want your prior spouse to have the same inheritance you did when you were happily married? If your children are married to people you aren’t sure about, or if they are divorced, do you want to use estate planning to protect their inheritance? That is another function of estate planning.

Taking out your estate plan and reviewing it is always a good idea. There may be no need for any changes—or you may need to do a major overhaul. Either way, it is better to know what needs to be done and take care of it, especially during a times like the one we are experiencing right now.

Reference: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (July 27, 2020) “Time for a non-medical checkup? Review your will”

Make the Most of Your Social Security Benefits

“The more you know about Social Security, the more you'll likely be able to get out of the program.”

Famous motivational speaker Zig Zigler reportedly said “If you want to earn more, learn more.” That’s true for careers and investments. It is also true for Social Security. The more you know how Social Security works, the more likely you’ll be able to maximize your benefits, says the article “Social Security tips: 10 ways to get more money in benefits” from USA Today.

1—Check your Social Security work record for errors. Create an account for yourself at the “My Social Security” page on the Social Security Administration’s website. You’ll be able to see your entire income history. Check it against your tax returns to be sure that the numbers are right. If you see mistakes, call the SSA and have them fixed now.

2—Work for at least 35 years. The SSA uses a formula to calculate benefits based on 35 years of earnings (adjusted for inflation). If you’re thinking about working for 28 years, your benefits are going to be lower. If you can keep working to reach the 35-year mark, you’ll increase your benefits.

3—Boost your earnings. Bigger paychecks equal bigger benefits. If it’s too late for a career change, adding a part-time job could boost your lifetime income. You could also just work a few more years—it makes a difference. The annual statement from SSA on the website will show you just how much.

4—Wait until age 70 to start collecting. For every year after your full retirement age, your benefits grow by about 8%. If you are able to tap other sources of income before you turn 70, you can maximize this benefit.

5—You can also start collecting benefits at age 62. Your checks will be smaller, but if you have had a job loss and need the money, you are now eligible to take them. There will be many more checks now, than if you waited until age 70. If your health is poor, or your family history does not include longevity, there’s no benefit in waiting.

6—Understand how spousal benefits work. For non-working spouses, Social Security allows a spouse to collect a benefit based on their spouse’s earnings record – up to one half (50%) of the spouse’s benefits.

7—Can you delay a divorce? You might be able to collect benefits based on your former spouse’s earnings record, if you meet the requirements. You need to have been married for at least ten years. If it’s been nine years, and if your not-soon-enough ex has significantly higher earnings than you, consider delaying until the ten year mark. Not everyone can do this, but if you can, it could make a big difference.

8—Keep your income lower, while collecting Social Security. If you plan on working while collecting benefits, understand that some of your benefit dollars will be withheld. For someone who is younger than their Full Retirement Age in 2020, for every $2 earned over $18,240, $1 dollar will be deducted. If you reach Full Retirement Age in 2020, the SSA will deduct $1 for every $3 you earn above $48,500, until the month you do reach full retirement age. Be mindful of the “cost” of your working on your benefits.

9—Find out if you qualify for survivor or disability benefits. There are Social Security benefits for spouses, ex-spouses, the disabled and survivors. Other programs with benefits include Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI).  If your spouse dies after working long enough to qualify for Social Security, the surviving spouse and children under age 17 may also be able to collect survivor benefits.

10—Think strategically about Social Security. If your spouse has a stronger earnings history than you, they might delay collecting benefits to age 70 to maximize the size of their benefit checks. If they die before you, as a surviving spouse you may collect either their benefit amount or your own—whichever is larger.

Reference: USA Today (July 28, 2020) “Social Security tips: 10 ways to get more money in benefits”

Appeals Court Rules in Will Dispute between Ex-Wife and Brother

“Recently, the Indiana Court of Appeals decided the case of Trowbridge v. Estate of Trowbridge. The case involved a man, Everett, who, despite their divorce, remained on good terms with his ex-wife, Christal.”

A dispute over a will that made its way to the Indiana Court of Appeals serves as a useful lesson for the importance of having an updated will and knowing where the original will is, as reported in The National Law Review article titled “Where’s the Will? Indiana Court of Appeals Reverses Trial Court’s Presumption of Revocation for Lost Will.”

Everett Trowbridge executed a will after his divorce, in which his ex-wife Christal and his brother Michael Trowbridge were named as co-executors. The will was generous to Christal, leaving her the former marital home, 100% of one retirement account, 25% of another retirement account and all of Everett’s personal property. While Everett had received the marital home according to the dissolution order, Christal never deeded it to Everett, as was required by the dissolution order. His brother Michael Trowbridge received 75% of the second retirement account. Six years after the will was executed, Everett Trowbridge died. One week later, Trowbridge petitioned to open an intestate estate, saying that there was no will.

Christal called the estate’s attorney, Michael, and told him that she had the will. She then met the attorney at his office. She said she told him that she had the original will. Michael later said that Christal told him that Everett gave her a copy of his will and left the original in his home safe.

Michael took careful notes and said that he would have to find out whether a copy of a will could be offered for probate, before attempting to probate the will she provided.

Michael said he next contacted Trowbridge and asked if he had found a will in Everett’s house. Trowbridge said that no will was found after a search.

Michael uncovered a rule that says where a testator retains possession or control of a will and the will isn’t found at the testator’s death, the presumption is that the will was destroyed. Under this rule, the proponent of the will can rebut the presumption by introducing evidence that supports the conclusion that the will was not in fact revoked. In addition, if a copy of the will is offered for probate and contested, the contesting party, in this case, Trowbridge, has the burden of proof to establish that the will was revoked. According to Michael, once he discovered this rule, he wrote to Christal and told her he would not offer the will for probate. He also suggested that she hire an attorney.

Christal petitioned the court to probate the will, and the trial court found for Trowbridge, saying that the presumption of revocation had established that Everett revoked his will. Christal appealed, and the Indiana Court of Appeals reversed the ruling. The court held that before the presumption of revocation could apply, there must be a predicate finding that the will had remained in the testator’s possession. The only evidence to this point was from Christal, who testified that she maintained possession of the original will.

There was yet another hearing, and the trial court found that the evidence supported the finding that Trowbridge maintained possession of the original will. The court said that Michael’s testimony, supported by handwritten notes, was that when he first spoke with Christal, she said that she had a copy and Everett had the original will in his safe. The trial court applied the presumption of revocation and declined to probate the will. Christal appealed again.

In its analysis, the Court of Appeals first easily affirmed the trial court’s finding that Trowbridge maintained possession of the will, and so he received the benefit of the presumption. However, this is not the end of the question, said the court.

It’s ultimately up to the person who is contesting the will to show that it was revoked, and the trial court had ignored the evidence supporting Christal’s argument that it was not revoked. Included in the court’s decision were these facts:

Everett did not execute his will, until after he and Christal were divorced. Everett continued to list Christal as the beneficiary of his accounts, as recently as the year before he died. He also never enforced the dissolution order requiring Christal to deed the formal marital property to him.

There are two lessons here for estate planning: always know where the original copy of a will is, and be aware of the procedural rules that govern wills. There are procedural rules that shift the burden of proof from one party to another and could be the reason that the wishes of the testator are followed—or not.

Reference: The National Law Review (June 22, 2020) “Where’s the Will? Indiana Court of Appeals Reverses Trial Court’s Presumption of Revocation for Lost Will”

Update Will at These 12 Times in Your Life

“It is also important to realize that it isn’t merely ‘why’ you are updating your will, but ‘when’ you are updating that can make all the difference.”

Estate planning lawyers hear it all the time—people meaning to update their will, but somehow never getting around to actually getting it done. The only group larger than the ones who mean to “someday,” are the ones who don’t think they ever need to update their documents, says the article “12 Different Times When You Should Update Your Will” from Kiplinger. The problems become abundantly clear when people die, and survivors learn that their will is so out-of-date that it creates a world of problems for a grieving family.

There are some wills that do stand the test of time, but they are far and few between. Families undergo all kinds of changes, and those changes should be reflected in the will. Here are one dozen times in life when wills need to be reviewed:

Welcoming a child to the family. The focus is on naming a guardian and a trustee to oversee their finances. The will should be flexible to accommodate additional children in the future.

Divorce is a possibility. Don’t wait until the divorce is underway to make changes. Do it beforehand. If you die before the divorce is finalized, your spouse will have marital rights to your property. Once you file for divorce, in many states you are not permitted to change your will, until the divorce is finalized. Make no moves here, however, without the advice of your attorney.

Your divorce has been finalized. If you didn’t do it before, update your will now. Don’t neglect updating beneficiaries on life insurance and any other accounts that may have named your ex as a beneficiary.

When your child(ren) marry. You may be able to mitigate the lack of a prenuptial agreement, by creating trusts in your will, so anything you leave your child won’t be considered a marital asset, if his or her marriage goes south.

Your beneficiary has problems with drugs or money. Money left directly to a beneficiary is at risk of being attached by creditors or dissolving into a drug habit. Updating your will to includes trusts that allow a trustee to only distribute funds under optimal circumstances protects your beneficiary and their inheritance.

Named executor or beneficiary dies. Your old will may have a contingency plan for what should happen if a beneficiary or executor dies, but you should probably revisit the plan. If a named executor dies and you don’t update the will, then what happens if the second executor dies?

A young family member grows up. Most people name a parent as their executor, then a spouse or trusted sibling. Two or three decades go by. An adult child may now be ready to take on the task of handling your estate.

New laws go into effect. In recent months, there have been many big changes to the law that impact estate planning, from the SECURE Act to the CARES act. Ask your estate planning attorney every few years, if there have been new laws that are relevant to your estate plan.

An inheritance or a windfall. If you come into a significant amount of money, your tax liability changes. You’ll want to update your will, so you can do efficient tax planning as part of your estate plan.

Can’t find your will? If you can’t find the original will, then you need a new will. Your estate planning attorney will make sure that your new will has language that states revokes all prior wills.

Buying property in another country or moving to another country. Some countries have reciprocity with America. However, transferring property to an heir in one country may be delayed, if the will needs to be probated in another country. Ask your estate planning attorney, if you need wills for each country in which you own property.

Family and friends are enemies. Friends have no rights when it comes to your estate plan. Therefore, if families and friends are fighting, the family member will win. If you suspect that your family may push back to any bequests to friends, consider adding a “No Contest” clause to disinherit family members who try to elbow your friends out of the estate.

Reference: Kiplinger (May 26, 2020) “12 Different Times When You Should Update Your Will”

Divorce Reveals How Trusts are Used by the Ultra-Wealthy

“In a lawsuit, Marie Bosarge claims that her estranged husband, Texas billionaire Ed Bosarge, created trusts ‘to hide income and property and to hold what would otherwise have been personal income and assets.’”

South Dakota has become a domestic mini-Switzerland for wealthy people who want to shield their assets. Texas billionaire Ed and Marie Borsage’s divorce is shining an unwanted spotlight on both his finances and the use of trusts in the state, according to CNBC’s recent article “Billionaire Divorce uncovers secretive world of trusts in South Dakota.”

Married for three decades, the Borsage’s accumulated 12 homes and an unusual collection of high- priced items, like an Egyptian mummy and Marilyn Monroe’s personal effects. It was quite a lifestyle. However, when Ted filed for divorce, Marie discovered that everything had been put into a special trust that shielded assets from any claims. After paying her legal fees, she may end up with nothing from the 30-year marriage.

Ed’s attorneys are making the claim that all of the assets are controlled by the trust, so they are not marital assets. The total value of the couple’s marital property, which would be subject to division in a divorce, is about $12 million. Marie’s legal bills are already in the millions.

The unpleasant nature of the divorce offers a rare look into the highly secretive world of asset trusts in South Dakota. The protective trust laws of the state make it a haven for wealthy families from the U.S. and around the world. Experts say that about $250 to $900 billion is now being held by South Dakota trusts, from Chinese billionaires, Europeans seeking to avoid taxes and Americans looking to shield wealth from spouses.

When the two married in 1989, they had no wealth. Ed began a commodities trading business and Marie was one of the first employees. They became wealthy. However, in 2012, according the lawsuit, Ed began an affair and filed for divorce in 2017. That was when Marie learned that he had been transferring their business and personal assets into a complicated series of trusts, first in Bermuda and then in South Dakota. Marie was originally a beneficiary of the trust, but then before the divorce, Ed started transferring assets and she was removed as a beneficiary.

According to South Dakota law, he was not required to notify her of the changes. Trusts in South Dakota are also perpetual. Therefore, a wealthy family can put assets into a trust that are held in perpetuity, rather than a limited period of time. The state also gives trusts sweeping privacy and asset-protection against creditors, business partners, lawsuits—and ex-spouses. South Dakota has no inheritance, capital gains or income taxes. It’s an extremely attractive state for people who want to keep their business private and protected.

The state also has strict information protections, so there are nondisclosure orders on all of the attorneys and all of the filings in the divorce case.

Reference: CNBC (May 6, 2020) “Billionaire Divorce uncovers secretive world of trusts in South Dakota.”

Gray Divorces Changing the Future for Many Senior Americans

“Rising divorce rates among Americans over the age of 50 are causing more conflict in estate planning, new data shows.”

Add “gray divorce” to the factors leading to strife in estate planning. Minimizing discord among beneficiaries is one of the top three reasons people decide to have estate plans created, but with more gray divorces, things become complicated.

A survey at the 54^th Annual Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning conducted by TD Bank asked elder law attorneys, insurance advisors, wealth managers and other professionals on the biggest challenge to estate planning. An article in the Clare County Review titled “Rising Gray Divorce Rates Are Making Estate Planning Problems More Complicated” explains the problem, and presents some solutions.

Gray divorce, blended families, naming heirs and changing family structures are making it more complicated—and more necessary—to create an estate plan and review it with an estate planning attorney on a regular basis.

More than a third of the 112 professionals participating in the survey said that gray divorce has the biggest impact on retirement planning and funding. It also impacts naming who becomes a person’s power of attorney and how Social Security benefits are determined.

The biggest way to help avoid family conflict in a gray divorce is the same as in any other divorce: regular communication. The family members need to know what is being planned, including who will be the designated beneficiaries and who will be named as executor.

The divorce process is complicated at any age, but after 50, there are usually more assets involved. The spouse is usually listed as the beneficiary on most, if not all, assets. Each asset document must be changed to reflect the new beneficiaries. Dividing pension plans, IRAs, and other retirement funds entails more work than simply changing names on bank accounts (although that also has to happen).

Wills, trusts, life insurance, and titles on real estate must also be changed. Institutions and companies that have accounts must be contacted, with information updated and verified.

Trusts are growing in popularity as a means of leaving assets to heirs, since they can minimize costs and delays when property is transferred. Trusts make it easier to pass assets, if family conflict is expected.

Even when beneficiaries aren’t expecting any cash assets to be left to them, controversies can still erupt over other assets. Adult children may not care about IRAs or trusts, but often the family home has great sentimental value. Deciding what to do with it can lead to fighting among siblings.

For those considering a gray divorce, talking with an estate planning attorney, in addition to a matrimonial attorney, could make this large life change less stressful. The estate planning attorney will be able to work with the matrimonial attorney, to ensure that estate issues are handled properly.

Reference: Clare County Review (February 10, 2020) “Rising Gray Divorce Rates Are Making Estate Planning Problems More Complicated”

Extra Social Security Benefits for Divorced People

“While it's not the best idea to expect your benefits alone to support you in retirement (after all, Social Security is only designed to replace around 40% of your pre-retirement income), some retirees have no other option but to depend on their monthly checks to cover the majority of their expenses.”

According to the Social Security Administration, as many as 21% of married couples depend upon their Social Security checks for at least 90% of their retirement income. The same is true for almost half of all single beneficiaries. Therefore, if you are expecting Social Security to make up the larger share of your income during retirement, don’t overlook any possible additional benefits, says the article “Divorced? You could Be Owed Extra Social Security Benefits” from The Motley Fool.

People who have been divorced may have more due them than they expect.

A married person may be eligible to receive Social Security benefits based on their spouse’s work record, even if they themselves have never worked. However, divorced people are sometimes entitled to benefits based on their ex-spouse’s records, depending upon their situation.

There are a few eligibility requirements. For starters, the marriage must have lasted at least ten years. Second, you can’t have remarried—although if your ex has remarried, this won’t affect your ability to claim based on their record. Finally, the amount received in benefits based on your own work history must be less than the amount that you’d receive in divorce benefits, based on your spouse’s record.

You’ll also need to be at least 62 to start claiming benefits, and in most cases, your ex needs to have started taking benefits before you can receive monthly benefits. There is an exception: you have been divorced for at least 24 continuous months and your spouse is eligible to receive benefits, but just hasn’t started claiming them yet.

Note that you won’t receive the full benefit amount for regular Social Security benefits or those based on your ex’s work history until you claim at your full retirement age (FRA), which is 66, 66 plus a few months or 67, depending upon your birth year. Claim earlier than that, and benefit checks will be smaller, as they would be if you were claiming your own benefits before FRA.

If you are indeed eligible to collect divorce benefits, you may be able to collect additional benefits based on the ex-spouse’s record on top of your own benefits. You won’t get both. However, what you may get is your own benefits, plus a portion—up to 50%—of the amount your ex-spouse is eligible for, if you claim at his or her FRA.

Let’s say you’re receiving $800 a month based on your work record at your FRA. Your ex is eligible to receive $2,000 at her FRA. If you meet all the right requirements, you could collect 50% of her benefits in addition to yours. You could receive $1,000 a month: your $800 and an additional $200 in divorce benefits.

Bear in mind that Social Security is a big government organization, and likely will not make this type of adjustment on your behalf. You’ll have to advocate for yourself, filing for the benefits you believe you deserve and you may need to make more than a few phone calls. However, the additional income would be well worth it.

Reference: The Motley Fool (Jan. 30, 2020) “Divorced? You could Be Owed Extra Social Security Benefits,”

How Can Life Insurance Help Me with my Post-Divorce Estate Planning?

“With nearly half of all marriages ending in divorce, it’s not uncommon to have clients who are either going through divorce proceedings, living as a single parent after a divorce, or have been married more than once–with or without stepchildren.”

Divorce can be extremely stressful, but in addition, the challenges divorce brings to estate planning can be an added worry. In many instances, a frequently overlooked strategy can provide real solutions for divorcees and blended families. That’s life insurance. Using life insurance to address some of these issues, can help you create an estate plan that really fits your needs, goals and unique family circumstances.

Insurance News Net’s article “5 Ways Life Insurance Eases Post-Divorce Estate Planning” provides us with five ways life insurance can help you in the event of a divorce:

Have money for divorce-related expenses. If the divorce is contested or includes child custody issues, the proceedings be quite long, maybe months or years. As a result, your attorney’s fees could be hefty. Those with an established permanent life insurance policy can take withdrawals or loans from the policy’s cash value to help pay expenses. If the policy is designed effectively, you won’t have to liquidate other assets or take money from your estate designated for beneficiaries.

Protect your income post-divorce. Your income can change significantly after a divorce, especially if one spouse was a stay-at-home parent. They may get alimony payments to help make up the difference, but if the payor unexpectedly dies, the lost income can create a lot of stress and financial hardship for those left behind. Permanent life insurance on the paying spouse can help provide coverage and replace income lost, if they pass away.

Preserve your estate post-divorce. Life insurance can also provide funds to pay off existing debt held by the deceased spouse. This also can eliminate the need to liquidate other assets from the estate that would have gone to the surviving spouse or other heirs. Take withdrawals or loans from the policy–tax-free, if the policy is set up correctly–and you can effectively plan your legacy, even if your ex-spouse hasn’t been financially responsible.

Ensure that children get a fair inheritance. If you have children from a previous marriage, it may make sense to provide for them through life insurance, rather than passing their assets to a new spouse first. In the alternative, you can provide for your new spouse through life insurance and leave the estate to the children outright or in a trust. With either option, dividing how you leave assets to biological children and a new spouse in a blended family, can eliminate stress and bad feelings, especially if the new spouse has children of their own.

Help fund college or other expenses for your child’s children. Protecting the lives of both parents with permanent life insurance allows you to make certain that the expenses for the children are addressed. Therefore, if the former spouse is responsible for paying medical expenses, college expenses, or other costs for the children, life insurance can provide needed funds, if that spouse passes. Permanent life insurance with cash value can also provide funds during the insured spouse’s lifetime (if cash isn’t readily available) to pay college tuition or help adult children repay student loan debt.

You should also look at permanent instead of term insurance. Term insurance may be less expensive, but permanent insurance can accumulate cash value that can be drawn from the policy, while the spouse is still alive, as well as providing a death benefit. You may want to also see about adding riders to customize your policy. With a permanent life insurance policy and a long-term care rider, you have the ability to accelerate the policy’s benefit while you’re alive to pay for long-term care costs. This can put to rest some of the concerns for divorcees, about who will take care of them if they can’t take care of themselves.

A carefully planned permanent life insurance policy can help you protect yourself, your income and your estate throughout your lifetime, even if you experience divorce.

Reference: Insurance News Net (November 5, 2019) “5 Ways Life Insurance Eases Post-Divorce Estate Planning”

What Are the Rules About an Inheritance Received During Marriage?

“An issue that frequently arises is the treatment of an inheritance received by a spouse during the marriage. The basic rule is that any property received via gift or inheritance during the marriage is exempt from equitable distribution.”

A good add-on to that sentence is something like, “provided that it is kept separate from marital assets.” To say it another way, when an inheritance or any other exempt asset (like a premarital asset) is “commingled” with marital assets, it can lose its exempt status.

Trust Advisor’s recent article asks, “Do I Have To Divide The Inheritance I Received During My Marriage?” As the article explains, this is the basic rule, but it’s not iron-clad.

A few courts say that an inheritance was exempt, even when it was left for only a short time in a joint account. This can happen after a parent’s death. The proceeds of a life insurance policy that an adult child beneficiary receives, are put into the family account to save time in a stressful situation. You may be too distraught to deal with this issue when the insurance check arrives, so you or your spouse might deposit it into a joint account. However, in one case, the wife took the check and opened an investment account with the money. That insurance money deposited in the investment account was never touched, but the wife still wanted half of it when the couple divorced a few years later. However, in that case, the judge ruled that the proceeds from the insurance policy were the husband’s separate property.

The law generally says that assets exempt from equitable distribution (like insurance proceeds) may become subject to equitable distribution, if the recipient intends them to become marital assets. The comingling of these assets with marital assets may make them subject to a division in a divorce. However, if there’s no intent for the assets to become martial property, the assets may remain the recipient spouse’s property.

Courts will look at “donative intent,” which asks if the spouse had the intent to gift the inheritance to the marriage, making it a marital asset. Courts may look at a commingled inheritance for donative intent, but also examine other factors. This can include the proximity in time between the inheritance and the divorce. Therefore, if a spouse deposited an inheritance into a joint account a year before the divorce, she could argue that there should be a disproportionate distribution in her favor or that she should get back the whole amount. Of course, the longer amount of time between the inheritance and the divorce, the more difficult this argument becomes.

Be sure to speak with your estate planning attorney about the specific laws in your state. If there is a hint of trouble in the marriage, it might be wiser to simply open a new account for the inheritance.

Reference: Trust Advisor (October 29, 2019) “Do I Have To Divide The Inheritance I Received During My Marriage?”

Do I Need Life Insurance After I Get Divorced?

“In a divorce, both beneficiaries and policy ownership should be modified to account for the change in marital status and its implications.”

One of the messy tasks in a divorce is working through life insurance, and it’s frequently forgotten.

Investopedia’s article, “How Life Insurance Works in a Divorce,” explains that addressing life insurance is a critical issue in the divorce process, especially for divorcing couples with children. Maintaining life insurance protects the financial interests of both parties and their dependent children. This involves making the necessary beneficiary changes, accounting for the cash value in whole or universal life policies, protecting child support and alimony income, and—most importantly—making certain that any children involved are financially protected.

Most married couples with life insurance list their spouse as the primary beneficiary. Life insurance protects a family from financial devastation, if you die and your income is lost. For a married person, naming your spouse as your beneficiary makes certain that he or she can continue to pay the mortgage, put food on the table and possibly bring up the children without your income. Life insurance is especially critical, if you provide the majority of the income.

In a divorce, especially an acrimonious one, odds are good that you’ll no longer want your ex-spouse profiting from your death. If there are no children are involved, most life insurance policies let you change the beneficiary at any time.

Some life insurance policies, such as many whole life and universal life policies, accumulate cash value over time. Each month when you make your premium payment, some of the money is deposited into a fund that grows with interest. This is the policy's cash value, and it’s your money. Any time while the policy is active, you can forgo the death benefit and take the cash value. This is called “cashing out” your life insurance policy.

Since the cash value from a life insurance policy is part of your net worth, you should list the policy, including its cash value, as a marital asset to be divided. Frequently, when marital assets are divided evenly, half the cash value from the policy goes to each spouse.

Protecting child support or alimony income is really important for the spouse who takes primary custody of the children after the divorce. These child support funds are for feeding and clothing the children and saving for college. If the noncustodial parent isn’t around anymore, this income goes away and it could put the custodial parent in a bind. If you have custody of the children, the best way to protect yourself from this situation, is to keep a life insurance policy on your ex-spouse with a benefit amount high enough to replace your child support or alimony income at least until the last child is 18. Being the custodial parent, if your ex is irresponsible or untrustworthy, you may just purchase the policy and pay the premium yourself, since coverage stops if payments lapse.

If your ex-spouse is no longer in the picture (whether by death or lack of responsibility), and your children rely only on you for financial support, if you die, they’d have nothing. Without your income, your children have no way to support themselves or save for college. A guardian, either a relative or someone appointed by a judge, will take care of your children, but there are still many unknowns in this situation. If divorce makes you a single parent, you need enough life insurance on yourself to protect your children to see them through, until they reach 21.

Reference: Investopedia (June 25, 2019) “How Life Insurance Works in a Divorce”