There are many life events that mean it’s time to update your estate documents. A divorce or becoming legally separated are two of those reasons. We Help You Legal, a legal document assisting service that helps with documents for divorce in Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo, has put together a list of the reasons why revisiting your will and estate plan are important when you are no longer married or living with your spouse.
- Your will and other estate documents need to be modified if the former partner was named in them. It’s very important that documents such as the Advanced Health Care Directive (AHCD) and powers of attorney that granted certain authorities over your finances and legal affairs to the former partner be changed.
- A legal separation may be a temporary situation or continue for a long time. You and your spouse may decide to reconcile or divorce, but in the meantime, certain matters may need to be clarified and changed. Providing for the care of children, changing your will, updating powers of attorney and your AHCD are some of the documents that may need to be revisited in the event of a separation.
We Help You Legal is a legal document assisting service, not attorneys, and cannot give legal advice, but they can help make sure legal documents are completed accurately and that you have them in time to file or distribute them in a timely manner. We Help You Legal can assist with completing legal documents related to a divorce from the Paso Robles or San Luis Obispo offices.
When you are divorcing or becoming legally separated, consider creating, amending or revoking the following:
- The will: You may want to name a new executor and it’s a good idea to have an alternate executor. Review property dispositions and guardianships and make the appropriate changes.
- AHCD: The AHCD gives the agent(s) you have named the authority to make medical decisions on your behalf, according to the wishes you have detailed.
- Durable powers of attorney give the agent(s) you have named the authority to pay bills for you and perhaps handle other financial matters.
There are some estate documents, such as a revocable trust, that have special conditions around creating, amending or revoking once a legal separation has been initiated. There are also court things the court reserves for action later, in the event of divorce, such as division of community property, retirement funds and how beneficiaries are changed on some insurance policies. It is to your benefit to find out what these conditions are before filing for separation.
Your will, AHCD and any powers of attorney contain specifications and authorizations regarding your personal matters and can be amended to continue to uphold those wishes. For example, you may no longer want your separated partner to make end-of-life medical decisions on your behalf or have access to your finances.
We Help You Legal has conveniently located offices in San Luis Obispo and Paso Robles to assist with divorce and legal separation documents. The firm has been assisting members of the Central Coast communities for over 20 years. The services include assistance with a wide variety of other legal documents including adoptions, name changes, living trusts, forming a corporation or LLC and more. The company is licensed and bonded in California, San Luis Obispo County LDA # 260 Exp. 11/2/22 Bond #65279225. Business License #6893.
We Help You legal is a “self-help” legal document assistance company that provides document preparation without the high cost of an attorney. We Help You Legal, Inc. is not a law firm. We cannot represent you in court, advise you about your legal rights or the law, or select forms for you.
