Women Updating Estate Plans After Divorce: What to Review and Why It Matters
Divorce is one of the most significant legal and financial transitions a woman can experience. Yet many women move forward after divorce without updating their estate plan, assuming the divorce decree handled everything. It does not. In Arizona, that assumption can lead to unintended, and usually expensive, outcomes. If you’ve been divorced and haven’t reviewed your estate plan, this guide explains what to revisit and why it is so important.
Why Estate Planning After Divorce Is Different for Women
You might wonder, what is so unique about women specifically getting divorced? After divorce, women often experience several overlapping changes at once:
A new financial structure or income level
Different ownership interests in a home or business
Changed circumstances around responsibility for minor children
New beneficiaries (or more likely, the need to exclude former ones)
A desire for independence, clarity, and control
Estate planning after divorce is not only about removing your ex spouse. You are restructuring your life so it is important to create a strong legal safety net that reflects your current reality, priorities, and relationships.
1. Your Will or Trust May No Longer Match Your Reality
Even if your divorce revoked certain provisions automatically under Arizona law, relying on default rules is risky.
Your estate plan should intentionally address:
Who receives your assets
When they receive them
Who manages assets for children
Who steps in if you’re incapacitated
For women with children, this is especially important. Default rules don’t account for family dynamics, maturity levels, or long-term planning goals. You know your family best. It is vital to create a plan that actually works and elliminates conflict if the unexpected happens. Many women choose trust-based planning after divorce to:
Protect assets for children
Control timing and conditions of distributions
Avoid future court involvement
Prevent unintended benefits to former spouses
Trusts can also be structured to support children from prior relationships, blended families, or long-term planning goals—without creating conflict or ambiguity. If you’re not sure whether you need a will or trust, check out our article, “Do I need a Will or Trust in Arizona?” to learn the difference between them.
“Trust Planning Can Protect Children and Your Independence”
2. Beneficiary Designations Often Override Divorce Decrees
One of the most common (and costly) post-divorce mistakes is forgetting to update beneficiary designations.
These include:
Retirement accounts (401(k), IRA)
Life insurance policies
Transfer-on-death or payable-on-death accounts
These designations typically control regardless of what your will or trust says. If they still name a former spouse, the result can be exactly what you did not intend.
3. Guardianship Decisions Deserve a Fresh Look
For divorced parents, guardianship planning is not about replacing the other parent—it’s about preparing for contingencies.
An updated estate plan can:
Nominate backup guardians
Provide instructions for blended or extended families
Address practical concerns about schooling, housing, and stability
This planning becomes especially important if your former spouse has different values, health concerns, or family support structures.
4. Powers of Attorney Must Be Updated—Immediately
If your former spouse is still named as:
Financial Power of Attorney
Health Care Power of Attorney
Mental Health Power of Attorney
That’s a problem.
These roles grant active decision-making authority while you’re alive, not just after death. Updating them is often one of the most urgent post-divorce estate planning steps.
Under the law, having a spouse in general gives you a safety net, especially around health care decision making. Who do you want to make your health care decisions now? Do they have the legal authority to do so? If you do not have valid health care powers of attorneys, it is important to put this protection in place ASAP.
5. “I’ll Do It Later” Is the Most Common (and Risky) Delay
It’s understandable to want space after divorce. But waiting too long can leave you exposed during a period of transition.
Life changes quickly after divorce:
New home
New bank account
New job
New relationship dynamics
Moves
Health changes
An updated estate plan creates stability even when everything else feels in motion.
If this is the first time you are considering creating a will or trust, check out our article, “What Happens If You Die Without a Will in Arizona?”
Estate Planning After Divorce in Arizona: FAQs for Women
Do I need to update my estate plan after a divorce in Arizona?
A divorce in Arizona is a major life event that usually requires updating your estate plan so beneficiaries, decision-makers, and guardianship provisions reflect your current wishes.
Even though Arizona law might revoke certain provisions of your estate plan that benefit a former spouse, I have seen SO many situations where the default law was not enough to prevent unintended consequences. Divorce alters the path of your life forever and your estate plan, your legacy, must adjust as well. Updating your estate plan ensures that your financial decision maker, health care decision maker, and beneficiaries of your accounts and equity reflect where things are now.
Does divorce automatically remove my ex-spouse from my will or trust in Arizona?
Arizona law may revoke some provisions benefiting a former spouse after divorce, but it does not automatically update the entire estate plan.
It is true that Arizona law does address provisions that benefit a former spouse after divorce but there is more to it. The default law does not update beneficiary designations, durable powers of attorneys, advanced directives, or health care powers of attorneys. Unfortunately, I have seen too many times where there were major consequences for children without an updated estate plan following a divorce. Following a divorce, you likely feel so done with the court system, and that is completely understandable, but truly finalizing things and moving on also requires getting your estate plan in order.
Do I need to update beneficiary designations after divorce?
Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, life insurance, and payable-on-death accounts usually control asset distribution regardless of what a will or trust says.
Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, brokerage accounts, bank accounts, life insurance policies, and payable-on-death or transfer-on-death accounts typically control even if your will or trust says something different. These designations must be reviewed and updated promptly after divorce.
Should I change my powers of attorney after divorce?
Outdated powers of attorney can leave a former spouse with decision-making authority during incapacity.
If a former spouse is still named as your financial or health care agent, they may retain authority to act on your behalf if you become incapacitated. Do you trust your ex husband to decide whether to “pull the plug” or not? Updating powers of attorney is an urgent post-divorce estate planning steps.
Do I need to update guardianship provisions after divorce if I have minor children?
Estate plans can name backup guardians and provide guidance if both parents are unavailable.
While the surviving parent generally has priority, an estate plan can nominate backup guardians and provide guidance if both parents are unavailable. This planning can reduce uncertainty and conflict during an already difficult time. Creating a best interest affidavit is a step many parents chose to take if they want to ensure that a grandparent retains an active role if something happens. There are also creative provisions for trusts that can help with these goals.
Is a trust helpful after divorce?
A trust can help protect assets, control distributions to children, avoid probate, and reduce the risk of unintended benefits to a former spouse.
Trust planning can help avoid probate, protect assets for children, control the timing and conditions of distributions, and reduce the risk of unintended benefits to a former spouse. Trusts are especially useful for blended families or long-term planning goals. There are so many things that a trust can do to ensure what you want is carried out if something happens to you. Trusts are like instructions for your loved ones and are an essential tool, especially if you are divorced.
When should I update my estate plan after divorce?
An estate plan should be reviewed and updated as soon as practical after divorce to avoid outdated beneficiaries or decision-makers.
Updating your estate plan soon after divorce ensures that your plan aligns with your new reality. Waiting can leave outdated beneficiaries or decision-makers in place during a period of transition. An early review provides stability and peace of mind as you move forward.
What should I bring to an estate plan review after divorce?
Bring your current estate planning documents, a list of beneficiary-designated accounts, and any divorce documents that affect assets or support.
Having key documents ready makes a post-divorce estate plan review more efficient and thorough. A copy of your divorce decree and a list of your current assets are two of the most important things to bring to the conversation. You might also bring a list of who you would want to make health and financial decisions if you died or became incapacitated.
Serving Women in Scottsdale, Peoria, and Mesa
While Arizona law applies statewide, local factors such as property values, family court history, and asset structure often influence post-divorce estate planning decisions.
A Thoughtful Reset for Your Next Chapter
Updating your estate plan after divorce is not about reacting to the past—it’s about planning intentionally for the future. For many women, this process becomes an empowering step toward clarity, independence, and long-term security.
At Windrose Law Center PLC, we work with women throughout Scottsdale, Peoria, and Mesa who want estate plans that reflect who they are now—not who they were before divorce.
If you’ve gone through a divorce and haven’t revisited your estate plan, a review can help prevent unintended outcomes and provide peace of mind.