I received a phone call today from a friend. He’s in the midst of a divorce. I’m shocked about it because somehow, divorce is not something that I’d thought could happen to people I know. But it does happen. Couples do go their separate ways if their marriages do not work out.
Unfortunately, I’m not a marriage counsellor because if I am, I will have tried to see how the marriage could still be saved.
All I could advise him was how to take an immediate re-look into his financial affairs. There are three main areas:
1. Re-write his Will as soon as possible. For you see, I do know that he has a Will. And divorces, unlike marriages, do not revoke a Will. So, unless he takes steps to re-write his Will, his ex-wife will still be one of his beneficiaries should he die.
2. Change his EPF nomination if he wants to remove his ex-wife as a nominee. It’s so easy to step into an office of the Employee Provident Fund to get this done.
3. Look into his life policy nominations. This can be a tad bit more complicated because I hear that he will require his ex-wife to agree to it. Well and good if she does but if she does not, he’ll have to live with it. In any case, he should contact his insurance companies for more advise on this matter.
All said and done, I was particularly impressed by his coolness and the matter-of-fact way that he had handled himself. A divorce only concludes a chapter in a person’s life but it is definitely not worth mopping after. It is not the end of the earth and as a door closes, another opens.
Friend, whatever you want to accomplish in the future, I want to wish you the best of luck!!