I met with a new client this week who has rebuilt her life after a remarkably amicable divorce. Co-parenting, it turns out, does work. The dust has settled, and by most measures, she's in a good, stable position.

I always do a deep dive with new clients. A thorough review of everything from values and goals to income and expenses to assets and obligations. The goal is to make sure the building blocks of the plan are stable before we build forward.

One detail hadn't caught up with the rest of my client's life: a life insurance policy still named her ex-spouse as the beneficiary.

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A Policy Built for a Different Chapter

Life insurance is a common requirement when someone is paying spousal support. It protects the obligation to the ex-spouse in the event the payor dies prematurely. It is a very sound practice and it made sense while support payments were being made. But that obligation has since ended. Left unaddressed, the policy just kept renewing quietly in the background, costing premiums for a purpose that no longer existed. If my client had passed away at this point, her ex-spouse would have received the lump sum death benefit.

So now my client has a few choices. She can let the policy lapse. Or she can repurpose it, naming her sons as beneficiaries instead. In so doing, she would turn what was once a spousal support mechanism into a bequest.

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Why This Happens to Almost Everyone

Nothing about her situation was unusual. This is simply what happens after a divorce: pieces of the old structure stay in place because no one took the time to ask whether they still fit.

The insurance company isn't tracking whether a policy's original purpose has expired, and even if they were, they're not going to flag it for you. Things like this just keep costing money for outdated needs until someone takes the opportunity to look. And to ask!

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What Financial Planning During Divorce Recovery Actually Looks Like

At MVP Wealth, we look at the pieces of your plan that were built for a different chapter of your life, and make sure they still serve the one you're actually living now.

A few places worth starting:

• Beneficiary designations on RRSPs, TFSAs, insurance, and pensions. These pass outside your will, directly to whoever is named. Even an ex-spouse.
• Blended family or new relationship? "Fair" and "equal" can mean different things to different people. Being specific now prevents hard conversations later.
• Kids from a previous relationship? How you want to provide for them, alongside a new partner or new children, is worth spelling out. Never assume. Just ask your mother what "assume" stands for.
• Your Power of Attorney is the person nominated to make financial and personal care decisions on your behalf if you can't speak for yourself. Maybe your ex-spouse is still the right person for that. Maybe they're really not.
• A cottage or shared property? Who inherits it, who maintains it, what happens if there's disagreement is worth addressing now, while everyone is still talking.

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The Real Work

None of this is complicated once someone walks through it with you. That's the real work. At MVP Wealth, we walk you through something that feels complicated and get you to a place of clarity and confidence.

Ready to see what in your plan still needs updating? If it's been a while since your beneficiaries, Power of Attorney, or overall estate plan reflected where you are now (not where you were), let's take a look together.

Book a conversation with MVP Wealth.