12 Jul My ex wants me to get his accounts. How can I make sure that happens?

Q. My ex-husband and I are on good terms. He wants me to inherit his accounts. He has children from a second (also failed) marriage and he wants them to be cut off. How can I make sure this happens?
— Ex-spouse

A. We’re glad to hear you’re on good terms with your ex.

He needs to take certain steps to make sure his wishes are followed.

Under New Jersey statute, unless a court order or a contract related to the division of marital assets says otherwise, a divorce revokes any dispositions to the now former spouse made in a will or revocable trust if the document was signed before the divorce, said Catherine Romania, an estate planning attorney with Witman Stadtmauer in Florham Park.

Additionally, she said, the divorce revokes any beneficiary designations made in favor of the spouse before the divorce, and it severs any joint tenancies with rights of survivorships, thereby creating a tenancy-in-common between the former spouses.

“If one former spouse now wants the other former spouse to inherit from assets which were otherwise not provided for in their matrimonial settlement agreement, he or she should prepare a new will or a codicil, which is an amendment to a will, naming the other former spouse as a beneficiary,” she said.

In addition or alternatively, depending on the nature of the asset, the former spouse can be named as a beneficiary of the asset, she said. For example, if the asset is merely a bank account, the former spouse can be named as the beneficiary “payable upon death.”

You said he wants to cut off his kids from his other marriage. This should be addressed, Romania said

“The best practice is to reference the intentional omission — as opposed to merely not naming the person and naming someone else — so that the argument cannot be made that the omission was an oversight,” she said.

But if your ex-husband’s children are minors, or if he has maintenance or support obligations, he cannot merely “cut off” such children, Romania said.

“Unfulfilled obligations in a property settlement agreement or a court order will be enforceable against his estate notwithstanding the terms of his will and may be enforceable notwithstanding beneficiary designations that may be in place,” she said.

He should work with an estate planning attorney who can review the divorce and make sure all his wishes are followed.

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This story was originally published on July 12, 2023.

NJMoneyHelp.com presents certain general financial planning principles and advice, but should never be viewed as a substitute for obtaining advice from a personal professional advisor who understands your unique individual circumstances.