If you're in the midst of divorce proceedings and are dividing up everything you and your spouse own -- including investments and other accounts -- update your list of assets immediately. This is especially urgent if you are moving money into a new bank. Should something happen to you before you update your information, your beneficiaries might not be able to find your assets. This would be a frustrating endeavor that your beneficiaries wouldn't need on top of their grief.
Necessary Information
If something happens to you and you pass away, your beneficiaries are going to have to gather your estate and account information as quickly as possible. Without current information, the beneficiaries could think that all of the money you have, for example, is still with your spouse. Or, they won't be able to find it at all, and your account contents will eventually end up in an unclaimed-property division. Or worse, your spouse and preferred beneficiaries could end up fighting over your accounts for a long time.
No one likes to think about death as they're taking care of a divorce, but it is a necessary issue to tackle. As you divide up assets, immediately mark down where they're going and what the account numbers are. Make a dedicated list so that you don't have a mess of notes that could get lost.
Detailed Lists
Write down the date an asset was transferred or when the new account was started. Do this for all bank accounts, retirement accounts, and other financial products. Review this list frequently throughout the divorce process so that you can update the list as needed. If you placed anything in storage, list the address and unit number on this list. Once the divorce has been finalized, put the list into a neater format and review it every few months to ensure it stays up to date.
Unless the divorce is amicable and you don't mind your ex-spouse getting the contents of the account, you'll want to be sure that the contents go to people whom you aren't trying to avoid.
Talk to your divorce lawyer and family law lawyers about protecting assets that you want people other than your ex-spouse to have. Even though you can list specific beneficiaries on most accounts, you don't want your ex-spouse to claim that your accounts contain hidden assets that you swiped from him or her during the divorce.
If you want more information on protecting your assets and ensuring your beneficiaries can find all your new accounts after your divorce, talk to your divorce lawyer and an accountant experienced in asset protection.
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