Why It's Important to Review and Update Your Estate Planning Documents After Divorce

Finalizing a divorce takes enormous energy. By the time the decree is entered, many people assume the hard legal work is done — only to discover years later that an ex-spouse is still listed on a life insurance policy, a retirement account, or a healthcare directive. Washington law automatically fixes some of those problems. It does not fix all of them.

This guide walks through why a post-divorce estate-plan review matters in Washington, which revocations happen by statute, and which documents still need your signature. It is educational, not a substitute for coordinating your decree with updated wills, trusts, and beneficiary designations.

What Washington Automatically Changes

RCW 11.12.051 provides that if your marriage is dissolved after you make a will, provisions in that will favoring your former spouse — or granting the former spouse a power — are revoked unless the will expressly says otherwise. The revoked property is treated as if the former spouse failed to survive you at the moment the decree was entered.

For many nonprobate assets, RCW 11.07.010 applies a similar rule: a pre-divorce provision transferring death benefits to a former spouse is generally revoked, again unless an exception applies (including instruments that expressly say otherwise, or decree requirements that you maintain a benefit for a former spouse or children).

What Automatic Revocation Does Not Safely Cover

Automatic revocation is a backstop, not a complete estate plan. A will that simply deletes the ex-spouse by operation of law may still name outdated alternate beneficiaries, an impractical personal representative succession, or guardianship nominations that no longer fit. Trusts, payable-on-death arrangements, transfer-on-death deeds, and account paperwork should be checked one by one rather than assumed fixed.

Federal law creates another major gap. Many employer retirement plans are governed by ERISA. In that setting, plan administrators often must follow the beneficiary form on file — even if state law would have revoked an ex-spouse's interest. If your 401(k) or pension still lists a former spouse, changing that designation (and complying with any plan or QDRO requirements) is urgent.

Powers of Attorney and Healthcare Documents

Under RCW 11.125.100, an agent's authority often terminates when an action for dissolution, annulment, or legal separation is filed between the principal and the agent-spouse, unless the power of attorney provides otherwise. That protection is helpful during the case, but it is not the same as having a new durable power of attorney and healthcare directive that affirmatively name the people you trust now.

Update who can make medical decisions, who can access health information, and who should serve if you become incapacitated. Divorce is one of the most common life events that leaves old directives in place long after the relationship has ended.

A Practical Post-Divorce Checklist

• Will and any codicils — beneficiaries, personal representative, guardians, and specific gifts
• Revocable living trust and related pour-over will documents
• Life insurance and annuity beneficiary forms
• IRA, 401(k), pension, and brokerage transfer-on-death designations
• Bank and credit union payable-on-death designations
• Real estate titles, community property agreements, and transfer-on-death deeds
• Durable power of attorney for finances
• Healthcare directive / living will and HIPAA releases
• Digital-asset and online-account instructions
• Any decree-required life insurance or beneficiary maintenance for children or support

Coordinate Timing with the Divorce Itself

Some changes are appropriate during the case; others should wait until the decree and any property transfers are final. Temporary restraining orders in family law cases often limit transferring or encumbering assets while the divorce is pending. At the same time, waiting months after entry of the decree with an ex-spouse still named on an ERISA plan is an avoidable risk. The clean approach is a coordinated checklist with your family law counsel and estate planning counsel so decree obligations and new planning documents do not conflict.

Blended Families and Intentional Gifts to a Former Spouse

Occasionally someone wants an ex-spouse to remain a beneficiary — for example, to protect minor children or honor part of a settlement. Washington's automatic revocation statutes mean that result usually requires new documents after divorce (or express language the statutes recognize). If that is your intent, put it in freshly executed papers rather than hoping an old plan still works.

Divorce changes your family structure; your estate plan should change with it. Washington's automatic revocation rules are helpful, but they are incomplete insurance. If you have recently finalized a divorce in Puyallup or elsewhere in Washington, an estate planning attorney can review your documents against the decree and help you put a plan in place that reflects the life you are building now.