Financial Documents

Life Insurance

After a divorce, some important documents that need to be reviewed can get left out.

Credit Cards

Make sure you no longer have joint cards. Call and confirm a change has been made. Do not assume that your letter has been received or that your request by phone has been carried out. Check your credit report to make sure its reflected there also.

Bank Accounts or other joint accounts

Check and see who can sign checks, withdraw money, obtain loans etc and make the necessary changes. This includes stocks and mutual funds.

Life Insurance

The beneficiary may need to be changed. Review and make changes as necessary.

Now is a good time to check and see if you have sufficient coverage.

“Across all life stages, a significant number of consumers (around 40 percent) fail to review their life insurance policies on an annual basis.”

Source: National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC)

You can check your company’s consumer complaint ratio at the NAIC consumer information source

Wills

If you have made a will, now is the time to check and make sure it is current. You may have your ex as executor and you may wish to change that to someone else.

If you have not made a will, now might be the time to do so. Perhaps you are thinking more about your future and if you have children, you should certainly have a will.

Storage of wills can be an issue. Many wills go missing each year. Talk to your lawyer about options.

Ask yourself (and your lawyer)

Make sure any changes you mark on your will are promptly send to your lawyer so a revised will becomes the current will. Old copies should be destroyed to avoid confusion and to prevent any potential embarrassment if found.

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