Changes to Estate Plans After a Divorce
Tuesday, May 19, 2020
Under Oregon law, a divorced spouse will be treated as pre-deceased for purposes of inheritance from their former spouse under a Will that existed before the divorce, in most cases.
Under Oregon law, a divorced spouse will be treated as pre-deceased for purposes of inheritance from their former spouse under a Will that existed before the divorce, in most cases.
The current health crisis is causing some people to think seriously about creating a Will or a Trust. It is causing others who have been thinking of this to stop putting it off, and to start actually working toward finding a lawyer to work with them on estate and incapacity planning.
Many people are worried by the Coronavirus/COVID 19 pandemic, and are limiting their social contacts, and abiding by guidelines for social distancing.
Some people mistakenly believe that once a Power of Attorney has been signed, the person who signed the Power of Attorney is protected against undue influence.
This is, quite simply, wrong.
Sometimes even entities that should know better, such as health insurance companies, are confused by Powers of Attorney and Advance Directives for Health Care.
Advance Directives for Health Care, in contrast to POLSTs (Physician Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment - see earlier article), are used to provide information and authority to substitute decision makers who are operating in a less urgent situation.
POLSTs (Physician’s Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment) and Advance Directives for Health Care are often confused.
No document constructed by humans can perfectly resolve all future conflicts.
However, if you are living together, but are not married, a formal Domestic Partnership Agreement can give a great deal of predictability to the eventual dissolution of the relationship.
Although Oregon Advance Directives for Health Care (called Living Wills in some other states) must be in the form prescribed in Oregon Revised Statute (ORS) 127.531, there are two places in that form where special conditions or limitations can be inserted.
Oregon Advance Directives for Health Care (called Living Wills in some other states) must be in the form prescribed in Oregon Revised Statute (ORS) 127.531.