Trusts and Estates
Ca. Trs. & Estates Quarterly Volume 10, Issue 4, Winter 2004
Content
- Breaking Up Is Easy To Do: Avoiding Mistakes That Unravel Settlements
- Ode To the Estate Tax Return...a Poetic Approach To Form 706, Audits and Estate Planning
- Planning Multi-generation Trusts With the Client
- Protecting and Moving Wealth Forward—An Important Factor Is the Jurisdiction You Select
- THE DOCTRINE OF VIRTUAL REPRESENTATION OF INCAPACITATED, MINOR, UNBORN AND UNASCERTAINED BENEFICIARIES IN RELATION TO NOTICE OF AND REPRESENTATION IN A PROBATE CODE § 17200 PROCEEDING
- Trust and Estates Section Executive Committee
- Divorce Complications In Estates and Estate Planning: Together With the Unraveling of Common Provisions For the Former Spouse
DIVORCE COMPLICATIONS IN ESTATES AND ESTATE PLANNING: TOGETHER WITH THE UNRAVELING OF COMMON PROVISIONS FOR THE FORMER SPOUSE
By Thomas B. Garrett*
I. INTRODUCTION
All too often when a divorce occurs, the terrific, cutting-edge estate planning for the married couple takes on a different complexion. The consideration shifts to unraveling the plan, or separating the interests of the husband and wife.
If the estate planning was straightforward, such as a tax sensitive revocable trust with pour-over wills, undoing the plan may not be difficult. Similarly, when the spouses hold certain assets in joint tenancy, or have designated each other as the beneficiary of insurance, annuities, and retirement plan benefits, the elimination of the former spouse after the dissolution typically is easily accomplished.