Your divorce papers may be signed, but your ex could still inherit your house, control your trust, or make medical decisions for you if something happens tomorrow. Even if the relationship is over, old documents can keep your ex in the center of your financial and medical life. Many people in Kalamazoo and across West Michigan do not realize this gap exists until they have a health scare or hear a story from a friend. Divorce changes more than your day-to-day life. It reshapes how Michigan law treats your property, your debts, and your legal relationships. However, your trust, will, powers of attorney, and beneficiary designations do not all automatically update themselves to match your new reality. If those documents were built around being married, they can quietly undo parts of your divorce settlement or pass assets in ways you would never choose now.
At Willis Law, we regularly help clients in Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, and Paw Paw coordinate their divorce and their estate planning. We see what goes wrong when an ex-spouse is still built into a trust or account form years after the marriage ended. In this guide, we will walk through how Michigan divorce actually interacts with your trust and estate plan, what does and does not change automatically, and what steps you can take to bring everything back into alignment.
How Divorce Interacts With Your Michigan Trust & Estate Plan
Most married couples in West Michigan sign their first will, trust, and powers of attorney during the marriage. Those documents usually put the spouse at the center of everything as primary beneficiary, personal representative, trustee, and decision-maker. When the marriage ends, it is tempting to assume those roles simply fall away. Under Michigan law, that assumption is only partly true, and the details matter.
Michigan has rules that treat an ex-spouse as if they died before you for certain provisions in a will or revocable trust that benefit them. In plain terms, your ex is often cut out as a beneficiary or fiduciary in those specific documents after a final divorce judgment. However, that automatic change does not sweep through every corner of your planning. It does not rewrite your trust in a thoughtful way. It does not touch beneficiary forms at your bank or employer. It also does not adjust who steps in if your preferred backup choices are no longer appropriate.
The timing of when you make changes also matters. Your risk profile looks different if you are still married and only separated, if a divorce case is pending in Kalamazoo County Circuit Court, or if your divorce has been final for years. If something happens to you during the case, before the judgment is entered, your spouse may still have full rights under your old documents. Even after the divorce, gaps stay open until you actively review and update each planning piece. Because we handle both family law and probate and trust matters at Willis Law, we regularly see how un-updated plans play out in real courtrooms, and we design new plans with those lessons in mind.
What Michigan Law Automatically Changes After Divorce, and What It Does Not
Michigan’s basic rule is that, once a divorce is final, many provisions in a will or revocable trust that favor a former spouse are treated as if the ex-spouse died before you. This usually covers gifts to the spouse and appointments of the spouse to certain roles in those documents. For example, if your will leaves everything to your spouse and names that spouse as personal representative, that clause is typically revoked when the divorce judgment is entered. Your estate would then pass to the next person named in line, such as your children.
This automatic rule has real limits, and those limits catch people off guard. It generally applies to wills and revocable trusts, but it does not automatically change beneficiary designations on life insurance policies, 401(k)s, IRAs, and payable-on-death or transfer-on-death accounts. Those are contracts between you and the financial institution. They will usually pay whoever is named on the last signed form, even if that person is now your ex-spouse. The automatic revocation concept also does not clean up every corner of your trust. Some obligations or structures may still operate in ways you would no longer choose.
Consider a simple example. Sara in Kalamazoo updated her will before her divorce, leaving everything to her children instead of her spouse. She felt protected. However, she did not change the beneficiary on her employer retirement account, which still listed her then-husband. Years later, she passed away unexpectedly. The retirement plan, following the contract, could still pay the entire account directly to the ex-spouse, not to the children and not to the trust named in the will. Situations like this are common, which is why our attorneys review both documents and account designations during a post-divorce planning session.
Another timing trap arises when a person dies while a divorce case is still pending. Until a final judgment is entered, you are still legally married. The automatic revocation rule usually does not apply, so a spouse named in your will, trust, or as beneficiary on accounts will often still receive what those documents say. That is one reason many clients choose to update at least their powers of attorney and some beneficiary designations early in the divorce process, in coordination with their family law attorney.
Why Your Trust May Still Benefit or Empower Your Ex-Spouse
Revocable living trusts are common in Kalamazoo and throughout West Michigan. Married couples often sign a joint trust that names each spouse as co-trustee, successor trustee, and primary beneficiary. These documents are typically drafted around the assumption of a long, intact marriage. Divorce disrupts that assumption, but the trust does not rewrite itself to match your new family picture. One frequent problem is trustee control. Even if Michigan law treats your ex as having predeceased you for certain provisions, your old trust may still list your ex-spouse in key fiduciary roles. Your ex might still appear as successor trustee, trust protector, or in a discretionary role over distributions to your children. If you become incapacitated or pass away without updating the trust, your ex could be called upon to manage the trust, at least until a court or the remaining beneficiaries sort it out. That is rarely what clients want after a difficult divorce.
Another issue arises with language that creates ongoing benefits for a spouse. For example, some trusts provide that the “surviving spouse” can receive income or principal from the trust for life, with children or other heirs taking what is left after that spouse dies. After divorce, the question becomes whether that ex-spouse still falls into the definition and whether the automatic revocation rule reaches that provision. The answers are not always clean, and the trust may not give your preferred outcome without amendments. A careful review by an estate planning attorney familiar with Michigan divorce is essential to avoid unintended lifetime benefits for an ex.
The type of trust also matters. Revocable trusts can usually be amended or restated entirely after divorce so they reflect your new priorities. Many clients in Kalamazoo choose to “re-state” their old joint trust as an individual trust, removing the ex-spouse from all roles, updating beneficiaries, and aligning the plan with the divorce judgment. Irrevocable trusts are different. In many cases, those cannot be easily changed, even after divorce, without court involvement or consent from all beneficiaries. If you have an irrevocable life insurance trust, special needs trust, or asset protection trust, those documents need targeted legal advice to understand what is possible.
At Willis Law, we frequently meet with divorced clients whose trusts were never revisited. Because we also handle trust administration and litigation, we have seen families struggle when an ex-spouse is still embedded in an old trust. That experience informs how we review and revise existing plans, aiming to remove ex-spouses from control, clarify who benefits and when, and design a structure that truly fits life after divorce.
Hidden Risks in Beneficiary Designations and Joint Accounts After Divorce
Even the best rewritten will or trust can be undermined by a single overlooked form at a bank or employer. Beneficiary designations sit outside your main estate plan, but they control a large portion of many people’s wealth. Retirement accounts, life insurance, and transfer-on-death accounts often pass directly to the named person, regardless of what your trust or will says. Common problem spots include employer retirement plans like 401(k)s or 403(b)s, IRAs, life insurance policies through work or purchased privately, annuities, and payable-on-death or transfer-on-death designations on bank and investment accounts. If your ex-spouse is still named on any of these, they are usually first in line to receive those assets when you die. The financial institution will typically follow the most recent valid form, even if you have been divorced for years and your trust now says something very different.
Joint accounts and jointly titled property also create traps. A joint checking or savings account with rights of survivorship will normally pass to the surviving joint owner automatically when one owner dies. If you and your spouse kept such an account at a Kalamazoo credit union or bank and never removed their name, your ex could receive the entire balance, regardless of your will. Similarly, real estate titled as joint tenants with right of survivorship may pass outside your estate directly to the surviving joint owner, which might not match the division in your divorce judgment. These issues matter because they can undo both your intent and the careful work done in your divorce. A judgment of divorce might award a retirement account to you, for example, but if you die before updating the beneficiary designation to remove your ex, that account could still flow to them. At Willis Law, our combined divorce and estate planning approach means we routinely coordinate property division, account retitling, and beneficiary updates so that the legal paperwork, financial paperwork, and your estate plan all say the same thing.
When we conduct a post-divorce review, we ask clients to bring statements or online access for all retirement, life insurance, and financial accounts. We then create a simple inventory of who is listed where. Many clients are surprised to discover that their ex-spouse is still the primary beneficiary on one or more significant accounts. The fix is often a straightforward change-of-beneficiary form, but the key is knowing which forms to request and how they should align with your updated trust and will.
Updating Wills, Trusts, and Powers of Attorney During and After a Michigan Divorce
Clients in Kalamazoo often ask when they can safely start changing their estate plan in relation to a divorce. The answer depends on where they are in the process and what court orders are in place. Some updates are both allowed and smart early in the case, while others should be timed carefully or reserved for after the final judgment.
During a pending divorce, one priority is usually powers of attorney. Many married couples name each other as agent under financial and medical powers of attorney. If you become incapacitated while the divorce is ongoing, that spouse could still be the person making your medical decisions or handling your money. In most situations, you can sign new powers of attorney naming a trusted family member, friend, or professional as your decision-maker, as long as you do not violate any specific court orders. Many of our family law clients address these documents early, alongside initial filings in Kalamazoo or other West Michigan courts.
Certain financial changes may be limited during the divorce. Courts sometimes issue temporary restraining orders or standing orders that restrict moving or hiding assets while the case is pending. These orders can affect whether you can change beneficiaries on some accounts or retitle property before the case is resolved. This is where coordination matters. Because our family law and estate planning attorneys work together within Willis Law, we look at the court orders and help you decide which updates are safe to make now and which should wait until after the judgment. Once your divorce is final, a more comprehensive review becomes urgent. A practical order of operations often looks like this. First, update your will and revocable trust so they no longer rely on your ex as a beneficiary or fiduciary, and so they reflect any new property structure created by the divorce judgment. Second, update fiduciary appointments, such as successor trustees, personal representatives, and agents under powers of attorney, to ensure you have trusted backups in place. Third, revisit guardianship nominations for minor children, and think through who should manage money for those children if you are not there. Finally, move methodically through beneficiary designations on retirement plans, life insurance, and accounts, aligning those with your updated estate plan.
In our experience across West Michigan, the biggest surprises happen when people wait years after divorce to do this work. By then, they may have remarried, acquired new property, or had more children, and the planning puzzle becomes more complicated. Addressing these updates shortly after a Kalamazoo or Grand Rapids divorce keeps the work more focused and less expensive, and it reduces the risk of conflicts between your divorce judgment and your later estate administration.
Protecting Children and Blended Families in Your Post-Divorce Estate Plan
For many divorcing parents, the central concern is how to protect their children if something happens to them. Divorce changes how money and authority flow around those children. Even though the other parent is usually first in line for custody, you still have powerful tools in your trust and estate plan to shape how your children are provided for and who makes financial decisions on their behalf. A common approach is to leave assets in trust for minor children rather than outright. You can name a trusted trustee, such as a sibling, close friend, or professional, to manage the money for your children until they reach certain ages or milestones. In this structure, even if your ex-spouse has physical custody of the children, they do not automatically control the trust assets. The trustee can make distributions for the children’s needs, consistent with your instructions, and can provide a financial buffer if you worry about how your ex might handle a sudden inheritance.
Blended families create additional planning challenges. If you have children from a prior relationship and later remarry, you may want to provide for your new spouse without accidentally disinheriting your older children. A trust can be designed so that your new spouse has support for life, while preserving a remainder share for children from your first marriage. Without careful drafting, however, assets might pass entirely to the surviving spouse, who can later redirect them in ways that leave your children with little or nothing. These are scenarios that come up in probate cases across West Michigan when prior planning did not anticipate future marriages.
Guardianship is another area where clarity helps. Under Michigan law, the surviving parent is usually the default guardian of minor children when one parent dies, regardless of what a will says. However, your estate plan still matters. You can nominate backup guardians in case both parents die, and you can separate the roles of guardian and trustee, so one person handles day-to-day care and another manages the money. At Willis Law, we help parents think through these relationships and build structures that balance care, financial prudence, and family dynamics in Kalamazoo and surrounding communities.
Because our firm operates on a Christian model of service and aims to be “Your Lawyers for Life,” we understand that your family situation will continue to evolve after divorce. Children grow, new relationships form, and priorities shift. A solid post-divorce trust and estate plan creates a stable foundation now, and an ongoing relationship with your legal team means those documents can be revisited as your blended family changes over time.
Cost, Timing, and How a Fixed-Price Post-Divorce Plan Review Works
By the time a divorce is over, most people are tired of legal bills. We hear this often from clients walking into our Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids offices. They know their trust and estate plan probably need attention, but they hesitate to start another legal project because they fear open-ended hourly charges and surprise invoices. That hesitation is understandable, but it can leave serious gaps in place for years.
At Willis Law, we take a different approach. We offer fixed-priced legal services for many estate planning matters, including post-divorce reviews. That means we agree up front on the scope of the review and the fee for it, rather than billing in small time increments. You know the cost before the work begins, which makes it much easier to budget, especially after an expensive divorce process. We also provide free initial consultations, so you can sit down with a lawyer, discuss your situation, and understand the general steps without any upfront commitment.
A typical post-divorce review begins with gathering your current documents and key information. We will ask for copies of your divorce judgment, any existing wills and trusts, powers of attorney, and a list of your main financial and retirement accounts, including any known beneficiary designations. We then compare what your current documents say with what your judgment requires and what you now want for your children and other beneficiaries. From there, we outline specific recommended changes, such as amending a revocable trust, replacing fiduciaries, or updating certain beneficiary forms, and we explain how those changes fit within our fixed-price structure.
We also recognize that some clients face additional financial pressure, such as students, senior citizens, and military members. Consistent with our Christian service model, we offer special rates and discounts for these groups, which can make the difference between delaying planning and getting it done. Our goal is to make essential post-divorce planning accessible, not to let cost stand in the way of protecting your family and honoring the work already done in your divorce.
Talk With a Kalamazoo Attorney About Your Divorce, Trust, and Estate Plan
Divorce in Michigan does not just untie a marriage. It ripples through your trusts, wills, account forms, and appointments in ways that can either support or undermine what you wanted from your divorce. Leaving an old estate plan in place means your ex-spouse may still control assets, make decisions, or benefit in ways you never intended, while your children and new relationships are left with uncertainty.
You do not have to sort through all of this on your own. At Willis Law, our family law and estate planning attorneys work together across our Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, and Paw Paw offices to align your legal documents with your post-divorce life. We offer free initial consultations and fixed-priced review options, so you can understand your risks and your options without pressure or surprise costs. If you are divorced, in the middle of a divorce, or thinking about filing, now is the right time to make sure your trust and estate plan match where your life is headed.
Call (888) 461-7744 to schedule a time to review your Michigan trust and estate plan after divorce.