What Are Some Financial Must-Dos After My Divorce?

Larry Goldsmith, a Certified Public Accountant and Forensic Financial Analyst in Northbrook, answers:

Too often, the newly divorced fail to separate financially from their ex. Failure to separate yourself and your ex-spouse’s credit cards, bank accounts, and financial plans may have undesired consequences; now that your divorce is finished, please consider the following actions:

1. Review all bank accounts, brokerage accounts, and IRAs to verify who is the owner and beneficiary of each.
2. Review all credit cards to verify that you are the only authorized user of the cards.
3. Send letters to credit-card companies informing them that you are divorced and no longer responsible for liabilities on any old joint credit cards.
4. Contact property insurance companies to notify them of the divorce and to inform them that you are the owner of the real estate – that you own the insurable interest. Inform the company that all future correspondence and communications should only with you.
5. Verify the life insurance beneficiaries and owners. If you are a policy owner, require that all notifications be sent to your mailing address.
6. Verify all of your insurance coverage. What is covered and what is not.
7. Change your financial representatives, tax professionals, and insurance agents when appropriate to ensure you have a loyal professional who will not disclose information to or work for your ex.
8. Notify your health insurance company about the divorce, informing them you want your own account and that your ex should not receive copies of your medical issues through the insurance company’s website. NOTE: if you were previously insured on your spouse’s work policy, and you wish to continue your coverage under COBRA, then you must inform his/her employer of the divorce within 60 days or you’ll lose your COBRA rights.
9. Notify your child’s school of the parenting agreement. While it may not apply to you, there could be potential issues with parental kidnappings if one spouse lost custody of their children.
10. Revisit your will and your financial plan. You may want to consider a change to the executor of your will, the beneficiaries, or your health-care agents.