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If you have substantial assets to pass on to your children or expect to inherit substantial assets from a family member, you will want to seek help specifically from a Seattle divorce and inheritance lawyer if you intend to file for divorce. While some concerns related to inheritance and estate plans change automatically once a marriage is legally dissolved, those automatic changes happen on delays mandated by Washington state law, and many others may not change at all unless you take steps to address them yourself.
At Twyford Law Office, our high asset divorce attorneys take a holistic approach to every divorce proceeding, which is designed to account not only for your short-term needs but also to help you plan effectively for the entire rest of your life after your divorce is finalized. We also have more than 40 years of experience helping people like you through situations like yours, so when you work with us, you will be working with a team that understands what you want and knows how to get it for you.
Since Washington is a “community property” state, most courts overseeing divorce proceedings aim to split marital assets 50/50 between both divorcing spouses. As your Seattle divorce and inheritance attorney can further explain, courts define marital assets in this context to include everything—money, property, and even financial interests like the growth in the value of a business—acquired by either spouse during the time they were legally married.
State law carves out property acquired by either party prior to the marriage and property acquired as a gift or inheritance as “separate property” not subject to division in this way, so most of the time you will not need to worry about property you stand to inherit in the future going to your former spouse instead. However, if you have already inherited property from a family member and then “comingled” it with marital assets while you were married, that property may be subject to division.
If you have your spouse listed as a beneficiary in your will, a revocable trust, a life insurance policy, or a retirement account governed by state law, they will automatically be removed as a beneficiary after your divorce is finalized. Crucially, though, there is a 90-day minimum waiting period for divorces to be legally finalized in Washington, and during that time, all the original terms and beneficiaries of these instruments would remain in effect.
Furthermore, certain types of financial instruments, like irrevocable trusts and federally governed retirement plans like 401(k)s, do not automatically remove beneficiaries upon divorce, so you will need to manually remove your spouse as a beneficiary to those plans. This stage of divorce proceedings, in particular, is where guidance from a knowledgeable divorce and inheritance lawyer in Seattle near me can be essential.
The question of who will get what property and assets can be difficult to answer, even in an amicable divorce, and especially in one under less amicable circumstances. However, while you are focusing on immediately relevant concerns like the value of a marital home and the division of money in shared bank accounts, it is easy to forget the impact that the dissolution of your marriage may have on your finances in the long term, including on who inherits what in the event of your death or that of a loved one.
Whether you are looking to preserve your right to inherit property from someone else or ensure your own property does not go to your former spouse after you pass away, support from a Seattle divorce and inheritance lawyer will be key to keeping your plans for the future on track. Call today for a free consultation.
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