Updating Your Will and Estate Plan After Divorce in Vermont

What Vermont Law Does Automatically (and What It Doesn't)

Vermont gives you a partial safety net when your divorce becomes final. Under 14 V.S.A. § 320, the absolute decree automatically revokes any gift, bequest, or power of appointment your pre-divorce will gave to your ex-spouse. It also strips their nomination as executor, trustee, or guardian. The law treats your ex as if they predeceased you.

That handles wills. It leaves three major estate-planning instruments completely untouched.

Revocable Living Trusts Require a Manual Amendment

Vermont's automatic revocation does not apply to revocable living trusts. If you created a trust during your marriage naming your spouse as beneficiary, successor trustee, or co-trustee, those designations survive the divorce intact.

To remove your ex-spouse, you must execute a formal trust amendment or a complete trust restatement under 14A V.S.A. § 602(c). This requires a written instrument delivered to the trustee — even if you're the sole trustee yourself.

If you skip this step, your ex-spouse retains whatever role the trust document assigns them.

Financial Powers of Attorney

Good news here: under 14 V.S.A. § 3507 (the Vermont Uniform Power of Attorney Act), your spouse's authority as your financial agent terminates automatically when a divorce action is filed.

The practical problem is that banks and brokerages may not know you're divorced. If they have the original POA on file, they may continue honoring it. Execute a written "Revocation of Power of Attorney" and distribute copies to every financial institution that has the original document. If the POA was recorded with a town clerk for real estate transactions, record the revocation in the same land records.

Healthcare Directives

Vermont law (18 V.S.A. § 9704) automatically suspends your spouse's authority as your healthcare agent when the divorce is filed, and makes the suspension permanent when the decree is final.

But that just removes your ex — it doesn't replace them. If you become incapacitated and no one else is named, medical providers have no one authorized to make decisions for you. Execute a new advance directive naming a new healthcare agent. Vermont requires two witnesses who are at least 18 and who are not the designated agent, your spouse, parent, sibling, child, or grandchild.

The Hidden Problem with Section 320

Even though Vermont's will-revocation statute protects you from your ex inheriting through the will, it can create a secondary gap. If your original will named your ex-spouse as executor and had no successor executor listed, the automatic revocation leaves you with a will that has no one to administer it. The court would need to appoint someone, which delays probate and costs your estate money.

The same applies to guardian nominations for minor children. If your will named your ex as guardian with no contingent, the court decides — not you.

What to Do Now

1. Execute a new will naming a new executor, contingent beneficiaries, and guardians for any minor children
2. Amend or restate your trust to remove your ex-spouse from any role
3. File a formal POA revocation with all financial institutions and any town clerk that recorded the original
4. Sign a new advance directive with a new healthcare agent and proper witnesses

Our Vermont After-Divorce Checklist includes a full estate-document audit with a checklist for each instrument and the specific Vermont statutory provisions that apply.

See more Vermont guides →