The Five Must Do Insurance Changes After Divorce or Newly Widowed!
You are a strong, you are smart and you are newly divorced or widowed! You are not alone by a divorce or death of a spouse. You though are now independent and will be making new decisions regarding your new life path. You will be researching and leaning on friends, family and professionals to guide you. Trust is huge and something we should all seek in those we seek our advice.
A personal story.
By nature I am a planner. I always had a map of where I was going and how I was going to get there. But life is full of the unexpected. Life throws you off your plan. At thirty-six I was married to a chief naval petty officer and we were near the end of a 20 year career. We had two wonderful children. It was a life of adventure. On April 7, 2001, it all changed in an instant. My husband was killed on duty in a helicopter accident. We were devastated with shock, pain and grief. This was not part of the plan.
Luckily, before this tragedy, I attended a life insurance presentation about the importance of family insurance. The advice had encouraged me to do an insurance makeover and to this day I am grateful I did. One thing my children and I didn’t have to worry about in our pain and grief was how to pay the bills. The lesson for me was though I couldn’t control what happened in my life and the lives of my family, I could make plans that left us less vulnerable in worst-case scenarios.
5 Insurance Policies to review after a life changing event
Auto Insurance- Who ever owns the car, insures the car. Title and insurance should match! With your new found independence it is a good time to review your liability limits, deductibles and important coverage options like rental car, emergency road service and medical payments. The worst time to find out you don’t have coverage is after an accident.
Home/Renters- If you are staying in your home be sure policies again are written appropriately. If you own the home, remove named insureds no longer residing with you. If you are now renting, protect your personal property with renters insurance. Home insurance is not a one size fits all policy. There are a number of limitations, exclusions and endorsements to consider. If you have sizeable collections of art or jewelry you may need to schedule specific items to get full replacement cost. If you own a home business a separate policy may be necessary. A good professional insurance agent should be asking many questions regarding your lifestyle to maximize your protection but also minimizing your cost.
Life Insurance- Review of current policies is a must! Changes to beneficiary information on existing policies may be necessary. New policies may need to be put in place to protect children and also for estate purposes. Updating addresses is also important, so correct documents will be directed to you.
Health Insurance- With the ever changing arena of individual health insurance, reviews and changes are utmost important after life changing events. Carriers move quickly when coverage ends and you don’t want to be left vulnerable and not covered. You also only have a limited time to sign up for the new program. Generally 30 days.
Umbrella protection- A review of your assets for insurance purposes helps your agent and you to determine your liability risks. Policies can be put in place to provide additional protection for liquid able assets and attorney fees.
As a result of my life-changing experience, I felt very strongly that I wanted to protect others in the same way I had been protected. I became an insurance agent. I get fulfillment from protecting clients from risk, ranging from those of everyday living to the catastrophic events we don’t want to think about. My gift is to sit with my clients, educate and make a plan to protect themselves, family and businesses. I am an independent agent with 15 years of insurance experience.