Estate Planning · Pittsburgh
When to Update Your Estate Plan in Pennsylvania: Life Changes That Require a New Look
If you got divorced and never updated your IRA beneficiary designation, that account goes to your ex-spouse. Not your current spouse. Not your children. Your ex. Pennsylvania law automatically revokes will bequests to a former spouse under 20 Pa.C.S. § 2507(2) — but that protection applies only to the will. Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, life insurance, and transfer-on-death accounts survive divorce intact. They require affirmative action to change.
The will you signed reflects the life you had. Not the one you have now. An estate plan is not a document. It is a snapshot of your intentions at a specific moment in time. Divorce, remarriage, the birth of a child, the death of a beneficiary, the sale of a business, a move to Pennsylvania from another state — each of these creates a gap between what your documents say and what you actually want. Some of those gaps close automatically under Pennsylvania law. Most do not. The gap between the plan you have and the plan you need grows quietly until it surfaces at the worst possible moment.
A Pittsburgh business owner had been divorced since 2017. His IRA beneficiary designation still named his first wife. He had remarried in 2019 but never updated the form. He died unexpectedly in 2023. The IRA passed to his first wife. His current wife received nothing from that account. Separately, his pour-over will named his brother as contingent beneficiary — his brother had died in 2019. His revocable trust named his former business partner as trustee — that partner had exited the business in 2021 after the company sold for $2.4 million. Four documents. Four separate problems. Each one a different kind of failure. The plan was not wrong in 2014. It was a snapshot of 2014. He died in 2023.
The beneficiary designation on a retirement account does not update itself when you get divorced. The will does not adjust itself when a beneficiary dies. These require affirmative action.
If you have had a major life change and have not reviewed your estate plan, call 412-351-4422 or schedule a consultation to find out what your plan actually says — not what you think it says.
Divorce: What Updates Automatically and What Does Not
Divorce revokes will bequests to a former spouse automatically. It does not revoke beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, IRAs, 401ks, life insurance, annuities, or transfer-on-death accounts. Those survive divorce intact. A divorced person who never updated an IRA beneficiary designation leaves that asset to their ex-spouse regardless of what their will, their trust, or their intentions say. Pennsylvania law under 20 Pa.C.S. § 2507(2) provides the will protection. Under 20 Pa.C.S. § 6111.2, beneficiary designations on life insurance, annuities, and similar accounts may be revoked upon entry of the final divorce decree — but only if the account holder takes affirmative steps or the decree triggers the revocation. Do not rely on automatic revocation. Update designations directly.
Divorce also affects powers of attorney. Under 20 Pa.C.S. § 5605(c), a power of attorney naming a spouse as agent is automatically revoked when either party files for divorce — not at the final decree. The agent authority terminates automatically. A healthcare directive naming a former spouse as healthcare agent is also revoked. These automatic revocations protect against an obvious problem but they leave a gap: if the former spouse was the only named agent, the principal now has no agent at all. New documents naming a replacement agent are needed.
Remarriage: The Blended Family Problem
Remarriage creates the most common estate planning failure mode in Pennsylvania: the blended family whose documents were drafted for a different family. A will drafted before remarriage that leaves everything to children from the first marriage may disinherit a current spouse entirely — or may leave the current spouse with only the elective share, which is one-third of the estate under 20 Pa.C.S. § 2203, not what the decedent intended. A trust drafted for a first family may name a former in-law as trustee. A beneficiary designation naming a first spouse that was not automatically revoked — because it was on a retirement account, not in a will — passes that asset outside the estate entirely.
Blended family planning requires explicit coordination across all documents: will, trust, beneficiary designations, powers of attorney, and healthcare directives. It also requires a decision about which assets go to the current spouse and which go to children from a prior marriage — a decision that Pennsylvania law does not make for you. Without explicit planning, the statutory scheme may distribute assets in ways that satisfy no one.
Birth or Adoption of a Child
A child born or adopted after a will is executed may qualify as a pretermitted heir under 20 Pa.C.S. § 2507(4), entitled to an intestate share of the estate regardless of what the will says — unless the will makes clear the omission was intentional or the child is otherwise provided for. This statutory protection exists but it is not a substitute for updating the will. A child named as a beneficiary may receive assets at an age when management by a trustee would be more appropriate. A guardian named for minor children in a will drafted before a second child was born may not be the person the parents would choose today.
The birth of a grandchild is also a common trigger for estate plan review — particularly where a trust or will makes gifts to “my children” that were not intended to skip a generation, or where dynasty trust provisions need to be activated or adjusted. Adoption triggers the same review as birth under Pennsylvania law.
Death of a Beneficiary or Named Fiduciary
When a named beneficiary dies before the testator, Pennsylvania’s lapse statute under 20 Pa.C.S. § 2514 saves bequests to descendants of the testator if the predeceased beneficiary was a descendant. For other beneficiaries — siblings, friends, former spouses who were not automatically revoked — the bequest lapses and falls into the residuary estate. If the residuary beneficiary is also dead, the asset passes by intestacy. A will with no contingent beneficiaries and no residuary clause is a will waiting to create a problem.
The death of a named executor, trustee, or agent under a power of attorney is equally important. A successor named in the document steps in automatically if one was named. If none was named, a court appointment may be required. Reviewing named fiduciaries — executor, trustee, healthcare agent, financial agent — after any significant death in the family is standard practice. The person you trusted in 2015 may not be the right person in 2025.
Sale of a Business
A business owner whose estate plan was drafted around the value, structure, and continuity of their business needs to review every document after a sale. The buy-sell agreement that governed what happens to the business interest at death is now irrelevant — the business is gone. The trust that held business interests may now hold cash or investment assets with different management requirements. The trustee named to manage business assets may not be appropriate for managing a liquid estate. Life insurance bought to fund a buy-sell agreement may be unnecessary or may need to be redirected.
The sale of a business also typically changes the estate’s tax profile significantly. Assets that were tied up in a closely held business — valued at discounts for lack of marketability and lack of control — are now liquid and valued at full market value. The estate planning strategies that made sense for an illiquid business estate may not make sense for the estate that follows. A post-sale estate plan review is one of the most important and most frequently skipped steps in the business exit process.
Moving to Pennsylvania from Another State
A will validly executed in another state is generally recognized in Pennsylvania if it meets the execution requirements of the state where it was made or meets Pennsylvania’s requirements under 20 Pa.C.S. § 2101 et seq. The will itself typically does not need to be redone. The powers of attorney, healthcare directives, and trust documents may. Pennsylvania’s power of attorney statute, the Revised Uniform Power of Attorney Act under 20 Pa.C.S. § 5601 et seq., has specific requirements that differ from some other states. A healthcare directive executed in Florida or New York may not meet Pennsylvania’s requirements. A trust drafted under another state’s law may need amendment to reflect Pennsylvania’s trust code.
Pennsylvania’s inheritance tax is also state-specific. A person who moved to Pennsylvania from a state with no inheritance tax — Florida, for example — may not have planned for the Pennsylvania inheritance tax rates that apply to transfers at death. Reviewing the estate plan for Pennsylvania tax exposure is part of any post-move review.
How Often to Review and What Triggers an Immediate Update
A general review every three to five years is reasonable for a stable estate plan with no major life changes. The triggers that require an immediate review rather than a scheduled one: divorce or separation, remarriage or new domestic partner, birth or adoption of a child or grandchild, death of a named beneficiary or fiduciary, sale or acquisition of a significant asset, business sale or succession event, move to Pennsylvania from another state, significant change in net worth, or diagnosis of a serious health condition. Any of these can create a gap between the plan on file and the intentions of the person who signed it.
The most dangerous gap is the one the person does not know exists. A beneficiary designation on a retirement account is not in the will and is not reviewed when the will is reviewed. A trust amendment from 2012 that addressed a specific asset may not have been updated when that asset changed form. A power of attorney naming a now-estranged family member may still be in a bank’s file. The estate plan review that catches these gaps costs a fraction of the litigation that results when they surface after death. For a full overview of what goes wrong when estate plans are not updated, see our page on what actually goes wrong with estate plans in Pennsylvania.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does divorce automatically update my estate plan in Pennsylvania?
Partially. Pennsylvania law under 20 Pa.C.S. § 2507(2) automatically revokes bequests to a former spouse in a will after divorce. Powers of attorney naming a spouse as agent are automatically revoked when either party files for divorce under 20 Pa.C.S. § 5605(c). These automatic revocations do not apply to beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, IRAs, life insurance policies, annuities, or transfer-on-death accounts. Those require affirmative action. A divorced person who does not update beneficiary designations may leave significant assets to a former spouse regardless of what their will says.
What happens to my will if a named beneficiary dies before me?
Pennsylvania’s lapse statute under 20 Pa.C.S. § 2514 saves bequests to descendants of the testator if the predeceased beneficiary was a descendant — the bequest passes to the beneficiary’s descendants. For other beneficiaries, the bequest lapses and falls into the residuary estate. If there is no residuary clause or the residuary beneficiary is also dead, the asset passes by intestacy. Updating the will after a beneficiary’s death to name a replacement is the straightforward fix.
Do I need to redo my will if I move to Pennsylvania from another state?
Usually not. A will validly executed in another state is generally recognized in Pennsylvania if it meets that state’s execution requirements or Pennsylvania’s. The powers of attorney and healthcare directives may need to be redone — Pennsylvania’s requirements differ from some other states. A trust drafted under another state’s law may need amendment. The inheritance tax implications of Pennsylvania residency should also be reviewed, particularly if you moved from a state with no inheritance tax.
What is a pretermitted heir and how does it affect estate planning after a birth?
A pretermitted heir is a child born or adopted after a will is executed who was not provided for in the will. Under 20 Pa.C.S. § 2507(4), a pretermitted heir is entitled to an intestate share of the estate unless the will makes clear the omission was intentional or the child is otherwise provided for outside the will. This statutory protection exists but is not a substitute for updating the will — the intestate share may not match what the parents intended, and the child may receive assets at an age when trust management would be more appropriate.
How often should I review my estate plan?
A general review every three to five years is reasonable for a stable plan with no major life changes. Immediate review is triggered by: divorce or separation, remarriage, birth or adoption, death of a named beneficiary or fiduciary, business sale, significant change in net worth, move to Pennsylvania, or diagnosis of a serious health condition. Any of these can create a gap between the plan on file and current intentions that grows until it surfaces after death.
What happens to a trust after I sell my business?
A trust drafted around a business interest needs review after a sale. The business is gone. The trust may now hold cash or investment assets with different management requirements. The trustee named to manage business assets may not be appropriate for managing a liquid estate. Life insurance bought to fund a buy-sell agreement may be unnecessary. The estate’s tax profile changes significantly when illiquid business assets become liquid — the planning strategies that made sense before the sale may not make sense after it.
Does remarriage affect my existing estate plan?
Yes, significantly. A will drafted before remarriage may disinherit a current spouse or leave them only the elective share of one-third under 20 Pa.C.S. § 2203. Beneficiary designations naming a first spouse that were not automatically revoked — because they were on retirement accounts, not in a will — pass those assets to the first spouse regardless of remarriage. Blended family planning requires explicit coordination across all documents to reflect current intentions rather than the family structure that existed when the documents were signed.
For a full overview of estate planning in Pennsylvania, visit our Estate Planning and Probate page.
Lebovitz & Lebovitz, P.A. · Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, near the Parkway East (Swissvale-Edgewood exit). Serving Allegheny County and southwestern Pennsylvania.