1200 5th Avenue, Suite 1550
Seattle, Washington 98101
206-728-5858
Seattle Waterfront
Photo by Jan Engel © 2005
Dubuar, Lirhus & Engel LLP
206-728-5858
Estate Planning Pending Dissolution of a Marriage
(This is for general information. It is not intended to be specific to your circumstances.)
If you are seeking legal advice about a possible dissolution of your marriage, you will also have some estate planning concerns. Fortunately, there is likely only a small chance of your death while your dissolution of marriage action is pending. But, an action for dissolution of marriage will last three months at a minimum, and many more months if there are differences which cannot be readily resolved.
Here are some commonly asked questions, and answers, about estate planning issues during a pending action for dissolution of marriage.
QUESTION: If I die will my spouse get my assets?
ANSWER: If you have a valid will, your separate property and your share of the community property will go to whoever you specify in your will. If you do not have a will, the legislature for the state of Washington has determined where your estate will go. If you do not have a will, your spouse will receive:
-
All of your share of the net community estate; AND
-
One-half of your net separate estate if you have children; OR
-
Three-quarters of the net separate estate if you have no children; OR
-
All of the net separate estate, if you have no children nor parent nor children of parent.
Thus, your estranged spouse will receive a large share of your estate if you die without a will.
QUESTION: If I have a will, and leave my assets to my children, how can I make sure my spouse cannot control what I leave to my children.
ANSWER: If you are like most single persons, formerly married persons, and persons with pending dissolution of marriage actions you probably do not want your former or estranged spouse to have possession or control of assets your children might receive if you died. We suggest leaving your assets to a trust that would become effective only if you died. You can name the person you would like to be the trustee who will manage the assets for your children. Your trustee might be one of your friends or relatives. Your former or estranged spouse would have no access to these assets.
QUESTION: What if I already have a will where I am leaving something to my spouse?
ANSWER: Washington statutes provide that in most circumstances, at the time your marriage is dissolved, all provisions in the will in favor of or granting any interest or power to your former spouse are revoked, unless the will expressly provides otherwise. This provision is not effective while you are waiting for the dissolution of your marriage.
QUESTION: If I do not have that much in the way of assets, do I still need a will?
ANSWER: You may have more assets at your death than you think. Do you own a home? Do you have a retirement plan? You may have an insurance policy on your life. Some people have life insurance policies through their employer. If your estate is small, you may want to purchase an affordable life insurance policy to provide funds for your children when you die. Through planning, you can provide that the insurance proceeds will be paid into the trust for your children who you set up in your will. This would be your gift to your children, and your former or estranged spouse would have no control over these funds.
QUESTION: Are there other reasons I might want a will?
ANSWER: If you are a parent of a minor child, you can specify in your will who you want to be the guardian of your minor children. The guardian is the person who will provide for your child (perhaps with your life insurance funds), and make decisions for your child which would normally be made by you. Usually, if a parent dies, and a child has another living parent, the child will live with the surviving parent, and not the guardian you name. However, there can be circumstances where this may not be appropriate or even possible, such as if the other parent died before you died.
QUESTION: Speaking of insurance, can I require that my spouse insure his/her life so if my spouse dies, there will be insurance money to help me raise the children?
ANSWER: This is a frequent issue in marriage dissolution cases where there are children involved. You should talk about this with the lawyer handling your case and ask if this is appropriate in your particular situation.
QUESTION: This all sounds good, but how much does this estate planning cost?
ANSWER: Estate plan
documents that most single or separated persons will want include:
Health Care Directive; Designation of Agent for Health Care
Decisions.; Individual Durable Power of Attorney; Life Insurance
Beneficiary Designations; and a Will. One of our estate planning
lawyers could discuss your specific circumstances and then give you
an estimate. In most cases there is no charge for an initial
consultation to determine what documents would be appropriate for a
person. We are able to prepare many estate plans for single persons
with children, including a trust for minor children, for a cost in
the range of $1,000.
Estate Planning Articles
HomeAttorneysStaffAreas
of LawAdoption
The information in this web site is all general information. The information is applicable only to the state of Washington, unless otherwise stated. This general information is not legal advice for your particular circumstances. If you have legal questions you should consult your lawyer.