Even if they had a lengthy illness and you both anticipated their passing, losing your spouse is devastating. You never imagined having to prepare for life without them.
The decision of what should happen to your property after your death is one of life’s difficult necessities, especially if you have children. Your own estate plan may need to be updated if you just lost your significant other in order to ensure that your loved ones are taken care of.
Your will may need to change
Married couples often have wills that mirror the other. The purpose of this is to ensure that, if one spouse dies, the other is taken care of and they don’t risk losing their property, for example.
After losing your spouse, you may need to think about updating your will to reflect this.
For instance, your husband may have left everything to you in his will in the event that he passed away before you. Everything you owned jointly then becomes yours.
There’s a risk that any children he has who are not biologically yours won’t receive anything from their father’s estate when you pass away.
If you have children of your own, or you both had children together, they would receive your entire estate, leaving your husband’s children without a share. It’s crucial, therefore, to ensure that your will accurately reflects your wishes for what should happen to your estate.
Does your power of attorney need to change?
You’ll need to appoint someone else to handle things for you if you both had each other as your power of attorney. Even though you might not want to think about it and it may be the last thing on your mind, it’s a good idea to go through this process as soon as you can. In the event you require support, it ensures that you will be taken care of by someone you love and trust.
It can be difficult to update your estate plan when you’ve recently lost a loved one. There are professionals who can guide you through the process and make everything as simple as possible.