Redefine Your Legacy With Post-Divorce Estate Planning Was the Worst Year in Human History 536 Divorce does more than end a legal union — it completely upends a person’s life. 3 Reasons On top of the legal process, most people must consider new living, child care, transportation, and banking arrangements. No one can afford to avoid these immediate and pressing concerns, but estate planning is an often overlooked item on the post-divorce checklist. Spouses usually feature prominently in estate plans. They tend to appear not only as heirs but executors, health care proxies, and powers of attorney. Following a divorce, few want their ex in charge of their affairs, but an estate plan is legally binding. Despite the divorce, whatever your will says goes.
It’s wise to reassess how you divide your estate and leave a legacy as quickly as possible. After losing the obvious selection of your spouse, these decisions can be tricky for some people but are necessary. However, note that many changes to your estate plan can only be completed after you finalize your divorce. Work closely with an estate planning attorney on any updates, and ensure they have a copy of the divorce settlement for reference.
When Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980, it poured so much dust into the sky that the sun over Eastern Washington went dark. Ash drifted overhead, traveling into neighboring Idaho and forcing temperatures down by as much as 15 degrees F. Locals spent a few weeks scared and shivering under dull skies. They had no way of knowing it, but they were experiencing a tiny fraction of the horror humans felt back in 536 — a time that Harvard University historian Michael McCormick once called “the worst year to be alive.” For decades, the year 536 was a historical mystery. Records showed that it was a terrible time, stricken by the triple threat of: 1. Unexplained, unending darkness 2. Unseasonably frigid weather 3. Crop failures and famines Those horrors and the economic and political instability they brought ravaged the globe from Ireland to China. Although 536 was arguably the worst year, things didn’t get better for more than a decade. In fact, they got worse in some areas! In 541, the Plague of Justinian — the first bubonic plague pandemic — appeared in Egypt and spread through Europe, killing roughly one-third of the continent’s population. For decades, archeologists and historians have puzzled over the tipping point in 536. “What went wrong,” they wondered, “to make the sun go dark and trigger snow in summer?” It was a head-scratcher until 2018. That year, researchers finally solved the mystery with help from, of all things, a Swiss glacier! The glacial ice was riddled with volcanic glass. Further study revealed enormous volcanic eruptions in 536, 540, and 547 likely caused “The Dark Ages.” It wasn’t just metaphorically dark — it was literally dark thanks to ash blotting out the sun and coating people’s homes, skin, and clothing. Scientists have traced the 540 eruption to Ilopango, a volcano in El Salvador that’s currently inactive, but they’re still hunting for the source of the 536 eruption. As we write this, volcanoes in Iceland and Alaska are the most likely candidates.
While your life insurance policies and retirement accounts are not technically a part of your estate plan, this is also the perfect opportunity to review your beneficiaries. While some accounts or policies may have been split during the divorce, most people want to remove their spouse from any remaining accounts. Your estate plan does not control accounts with a beneficiary, so it’s crucial to have your designations up to date.
Meanwhile, for those who don’t have an estate plan, there’s no time like the present to create one. Divorce
inspires many to take stock of their priorities in life and consider how they want their future to look. These questions are intrinsic to estate planning. As you assess your relationships and build new support systems, consider getting your wishes in writing. It’s the only way to take care of the people you love after you’re gone. Unfortunately, none of us knows what the future holds, so a failure to update your estate planning documents can have lasting consequences for your family’s future. Avoid procrastination to protect the people you love and uphold your wishes.
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