Divorce Checklist, Part II: Handling Important Documents, Insurance, and Mailing Address Changes

In part one, we went over the tasks required to address the financial side of a divorce like removing your name from and closing joint accounts, making sure you received all assets to which you were entitled in the separation, and starting a new financial plan for yourself. In today’s blog post, which is part two in a five-part series, we provide a checklist that focuses on name, address, and important document changes. It is especially important to consider updating your estate planning documents to provide for your children and remove your spouse from inheritance provisions that may currently exist in your estate planning documents. Now, here are the most important items to consider regarding documentation and insurance. 

1. Transfer vehicle titles.
2. Separate your cell phone plans.
3. Update your mailing address on all accounts and personal identifiers, including: driver’s license, credit cards, banks, Department of Motor Vehicles, insurance companies, your children’s schools and doctor’s offices, your employer, personal and business websites, business cards, etc.
4. Update your voter registration as necessary.
5. Obtain copies of any important documents that you and your spouse should both have copies of, including: children’s birth certificates, children’s passports or social security cards, marriage licenses, health insurance cards, deed(s) to real property, stock certificates, etc.
6. Separate your automobile liability insurance policies.
7. Change other insurance policies: homeowner’s insurance policy, umbrella insurance policies, excess liability coverage.
8. Close joint safety deposit boxes or post office boxes and open new ones, if necessary.
9. Update estate planning documents, including: wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and medical directives for healthcare.
10. If your name changed as a result of the divorce, be sure to follow through with changing your name with the Social Security Administration, passport, driver’s license, bank accounts, credit cards, and other forms of identification and accounts.

Please reach out to our firm and schedule a consultation if you aren’t sure how to proceed. We will help you understand what actions you should take in your unique situation. 

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