Automatic Revocation After Divorce
State law provides a safety net for people who divorce but have not yet updated their estate plans. The moment a divorce decree is final, the law revokes any gifts to the former spouse.
This applies to a will, trust, power of attorney, or other governing instrument signed before the divorce. The law also revokes any role given to the former spouse, such as trustee, personal representative, or agent.
Except as provided by the express terms of a governing instrument, a court order or a contract relating to the division of the marital estate made between a divorced couple before or after the marriage, divorce or annulment, the divorce or annulment of a marriage: 1. Revokes any revocable: (a) Disposition or appointment of property made by a divorced person to that person's former spouse in a governing instrument and any disposition or appointment created by law or in a governing instrument to a relative of the divorced person's former spouse.
A.R.S. § 14-2804(A)(1)(a)This revocation extends beyond the former spouse. It also covers relatives of the former spouse. For example, if your trust named your former mother-in-law as a backup beneficiary, the law revokes that too.
Joint Ownership and Revival by Remarriage
Property held as joint tenants or community property with right of survivorship converts to tenancies in common. This stops the former spouse from inheriting through survivorship after the marriage ends.
There is a built-in reversal. If you remarry your former spouse, all the revoked rules come back. The same applies if a court nullifies the divorce or annulment.
What Does Not Trigger Automatic Revocation
Only divorce, annulment, or the killing of the decedent triggers automatic revocation. Separation or estrangement alone does not revoke any designations. Federal law may also override state law for some accounts, such as employer retirement plans governed by ERISA.
If a spouse dies before the divorce is final, the former spouse may still inherit under the existing plan. This means updating your power of attorney, beneficiary forms, and other documents after divorce is critical.
When a divorce decree is entered, review every document where the former spouse appears. This includes retirement accounts, life insurance, and bank account forms.
What This Statute Does NOT Reach
The automatic revocation in this section is a probate-law tool. It does not override federal law for ERISA-governed retirement plans, and it does not control beneficiary designations on life insurance, IRAs, or POD/TOD accounts. For a step-by-step checklist of what 14-2804 handles for you and what you must update yourself, see our FAQ: Updating your estate plan after divorce in Arizona.