Scott Weiland was formerly the lead singer of Stone Temple Pilots. At the time of his death last month, he had been married to his third wife for two years. Meanwhile, his second wife, Mary Forsberg, filed his 2007 will in LA County probate court because it named her as executor of his $2 million estate. The will was executed several months before they divorced.
Three brief points:
1. Ohio law would remove the ex-wife as both a beneficiary of the will and as executor once the divorce is finalized. It would also remove her as the beneficiary of any IRA or insurance policy.
2. Even with the protection of a state law treating a divorced spouse as pre-deceased for estate planning purposes, it is best to update estate planning documents and beneficiary designations upon getting divorced. If there is no such state law, it is imperative to update the documents.
3. As always, I guess it is asking too much of someone whose divorce and death were both attributable to drug use to be pro-active in updating one's estate planning documents.
