What Happens If You Disinherit Your Spouse in Your Separation or Divorce in Ontario?
I think you agree that most spouses do not want to leave any of their property or assets to their former spouse when they pass away.
Unfortunately, you have to make so many decisions during the separation and divorce process that it’s easy to forget about changing your will and making other important changes to your estate planning.
Hi, my name is Thomas O’Malley. I’m an experienced family lawyer in Durham Region and the GTA.
In most cases, you have left most of your assets and property to your spouse in your will.
You have probably also named your spouse as your beneficiary for life insurance and RRSPs.
However, you most likely do not want to leave your assets and property and the proceeds of your life insurance and your RRSPs to your former spouse if you pass away.
You must now make sure you change your will so that your former spouse does not inherit your assets and property. A new will revokes any previous wills.
You also want to name new beneficiaries on your life insurance policies and RRSPs.
However, your spouse still can make a claim against your estate if you pass away before a final court settlement or separation agreement is signed.
When a spouse dies leaving a will, the surviving spouse can choose to take their inheritance under their spouse’s will or their entitlement to equalization of net family properties under the Ontario Family Law Act.
Even if you have removed your spouse from your will by making a new will, your spouse can still claim an entitlement to equalization of net family properties under the Family Law Act.
This is definitely a problem until you have a final resolution of your family court issues with a court order, final court settlement or separation agreement. There is no other solution to this problem.
You need to specifically deal with the issue of who inherits your property and assets in a separation agreement or settlement with your former spouse. Usually, you would state that both you and your spouse give up all claims against the other spouse’s estate.
You could still face the problem that you cannot remove your spouse as a beneficiary from your life insurance policies.
If you have an obligation to pay spousal support to your former spouse, often you must maintain life insurance with your spouse named as the beneficiary. This ensures that your spouse still receives financial support from you if you pass away before your spousal support obligation expires.
A separation agreement or final court order often states that you must maintain life insurance with your former spouse named as a beneficiary when you must pay spousal support to your spouse.
You should also make sure you change personal power of attorney and financial power of attorney by naming another person to make key decisions in your life if you become ill or incapacitated.
You must discuss this important issue with your family lawyer.
If you have any questions about your separation, divorce or family law case and you would like our help, there’s a few ways to contact our office. You can leave a message on my Facebook law office page, visit my website at www.canadiandivorcelegaladvice.com, or call me directly at 905-434-8837. We would be happy to speak to you.
Oh, by the way, did you know you can protect your family law rights and get essential information on settling your family law issues with your former spouse with the daily indispensable family law advice and tips at my FREE Facebook group?
Click here to find out more: Durham Region Separation and Divorce Legal Support Group
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