Your first order of business after your Michigan divorce might be to celebrate, but there are plenty of practical moves to make too that cannot be overlooked. If you want to truly get off to a fresh start after your divorce is final, be ready to take care of the following items immediately.
1. Mark Your Calendar
If you will receive child support or spousal support, keep a running tab of the payments your ex owes you. Mark your calendar so you know when these items should be delivered. Whether you’re expecting money every month, every year, or otherwise (like deferred compensation or retirement accounts), note them so you don’t miss out on your due.
Keep a running list of all the things you need to do per your divorce agreement and when – deadlines matter. This may include refinancing your home by a certain date, changing names on utility bills or opening new accounts, removing his or her name from a joint credit card, or closing bank accounts.
2. Change Your Beneficiaries
Life insurance. Retirement accounts. Brokerage accounts. Your major money holdings have beneficiaries and if it’s your spouse, you’ll likely want to change that. Your kids can be beneficiaries but if they’re little you’ll want to talk to a lawyer about setting up trusts in the event of your death.
3. Update Your Will
Chances are, your current will has your spouse getting a major chunk of your assets in the event of your passing. If this is no longer how you want the chips to fall – and it probably isn’t – make the necessary changes to your estate planning documents and change your power of attorney too.
4. Change Your Passwords
Your former spouse may not know all your usernames and passwords but there is a good chance he or she could make an educated guess if they really wanted to get into one of your accounts. Your personal information is yours alone, so change everything from financial accounts to online shopping accounts, your phone’s password to Netflix.
5. Review Payments
Auto-renewals and automatic debits should be reviewed. You don’t want to keep paying for something that is no longer your responsibility. And if your ex was previously responsible for a payment, make sure you’re taking it over so service is not interrupted and you’re not incurring late fees for overlooking this new task.
6. Notify Your Employer
Direct deposit will need to be adjusted if you had it going into a joint account or if you’ve opened a new checking account. Health insurance information, emergency contacts, next of kin, place of residence – all the human resources info will need to be edited at your place of business. At this point, your supervisors and colleagues likely know you’ve been going through a divorce – being up front about the situation is important, though they don’t need to know all the dirty details.
File for a Michigan Divorce
If you are ready to file for divorce, schedule a consultation with a divorce lawyer at Michigan Divorce Help PLLC in Macomb, Michigan. Get your divorce questions answered and determine whether our firm is the right fit for your needs. Contact us today to schedule your no-cost consultation.