A rare Dallas firm that handles both complex divorce and the connected estate planning — so your property settlement, your trusts, and your beneficiaries move forward together.

A divorce in Texas does not end your estate plan — it reshapes it. Property is re-titled, beneficiaries change, and the documents that protected your spouse may stop working the day the decree is signed. At The Ashmore Law Firm, P.C., we handle both the divorce that divides the estate and the estate planning that protects what remains.

Divorce and estate planning are often handled by separate lawyers at separate times — and that gap is where families lose wealth. We coordinate both under one roof, for business owners, executives, professionals, and families across Dallas, the Park Cities, Preston Hollow, Plano, Frisco, Southlake, and the DFW area. That means your divorce decree, your trusts, your beneficiary designations, and your will are built to work together instead of contradicting each other.

Why does divorce require estate planning at the same time?

Divorce and estate planning must move together because a property settlement and an estate plan that contradict each other create conflicts, unintended beneficiaries, and litigation. When a decree divides your assets one way but your will and trusts still direct them another, the documents fight each other — and courts, not your wishes, may decide who inherits. Handling both together keeps the property settlement, the trust structure, and the beneficiary updates consistent from the day you separate through the years after your divorce is final.

In Texas, several estate-planning documents change automatically when a divorce is granted — but not all of them, and not the ones most people assume. Understanding which documents update themselves, which require action, and how community and separate property interact during divorce is the core of planning through a Texas divorce.

How does divorce affect your will in Texas?

Under Texas Estates Code § 123.001, when your divorce becomes final, Texas law treats your former spouse as if they died before you for purposes of your will. Any gift to your ex-spouse, and any appointment of your ex-spouse as executor or trustee, is automatically revoked.

But that automatic revocation is limited in three important ways:

  1. It only removes the ex-spouse — it does not name a replacement. If your will left everything to your spouse and named no alternate, the gift to your ex is void and your estate may pass as if you had no will, under Texas intestacy law. You still need a new will.

  2. It does not rewrite irrevocable trusts. Texas Estates Code § 123.052 revokes certain revocable trust dispositions, powers, and fiduciary appointments in favor of a former spouse. Irrevocable trusts may require separate review because they are not automatically rewritten by divorce in the same way.

  3. It does not touch life insurance or retirement beneficiaries. Those are governed by different rules (below) and must be reviewed and updated separately.

In short: divorce gives you a partial safety net for your will, but not a complete estate plan. A new will — and a full beneficiary review — should be part of every Dallas divorce.

Does divorce revoke beneficiary designations on life insurance and retirement accounts?

Do not rely on divorce alone to clean up beneficiary designations. Texas Family Code §§ 9.301–9.302 can revoke certain former-spouse beneficiary designations after divorce, but exceptions apply, and ERISA-governed plans may be controlled by federal law, the plan document, and any approved Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO). To divide a 401(k), pension, or other employer plan, a QDRO is usually required. To avoid disputes, update beneficiary forms directly and coordinate them with the decree.

Practically, this means:

  • A policy or plan may still create disputes or pay contrary to your intent if the beneficiary forms, the decree language, and the plan rules are not coordinated.

  • A 401(k) generally cannot be divided without a QDRO approved by the plan administrator.

  • An IRA can often be divided by a trustee-to-trustee transfer under the divorce decree, but the paperwork must be done correctly to avoid triggering taxes and penalties.

For a business owner in Preston Hollow or an executive in Plano with employer equity, deferred comp, and group life benefits, this review is essential. We coordinate beneficiary changes and QDROs as part of the divorce itself — not as an afterthought.

What happens to your power of attorney when you divorce?

Under Texas Estates Code § 751.053, if you named your spouse as your agent under a durable power of attorney, that authority terminates automatically on the date the divorce is granted. Your former spouse can no longer sign contracts or financial documents on your behalf.

However, if your ex-spouse still holds a copy of the old power of attorney, a third party may not know the authority has ended. The safer practice is to execute a new durable power of attorney (and medical power of attorney) immediately, naming new agents, so there is no gap and no stale document circulating. We update these alongside the divorce.

What happens to your medical and financial decisions while your divorce is pending?

Filing for divorce does not instantly sever your spouse's legal role in your life. The automatic revocation of a power of attorney that names your spouse does not take effect until the divorce is granted — under Texas Estates Code § 751.053, that revocation occurs on the date the divorce is granted, not the day you file. Which means that during the months your divorce is pending, the person you are divorcing may still be the one hospitals call to make your medical decisions and banks rely on to manage your finances.

Consider what happens if you file for divorce and are then seriously injured in a car accident and cannot speak for yourself. Without updated documents, your soon-to-be-ex-spouse — not a parent, sibling, or trusted friend — could be the one making your medical care and financial decisions at exactly the moment the marriage is ending. For many clients, that is the single most important reason to update estate-planning documents at the start of a divorce, not at the end of one.

The key distinction is between documents you generally cannot change during a divorce without court approval and those you can and should update.

Restricted during the divorce (under standing orders in Dallas, Collin, Denton, and Tarrant Counties):

  • Changing beneficiaries on life insurance, retirement accounts, and annuities.

  • Canceling or modifying health, auto, homeowners, or other insurance.

  • Selling, transferring, encumbering, or hiding community property (and often separate property).

  • Moving children out of the county or state.

Standing orders exist to prevent one spouse from dissipating assets or leaving the other uninsured while the divorce is pending. Violating them can carry serious consequences, so never change a beneficiary or transfer an asset without your attorney confirming it is permitted.

Can and should be updated during the divorce:

  • Medical power of attorney — name a new agent (a parent, sibling, or trusted friend) to make health-care decisions if you cannot.

  • Durable (financial) power of attorney — revoke your spouse's authority and name a new agent to handle your finances.

  • Designation of guardian — under Texas Estates Code Chapter 1104, designate in advance the person you would want appointed as your guardian if you become incapacitated.

  • Directive to physicians (living will) — state your end-of-life wishes so they are not left to a spouse you are divorcing.

  • HIPAA authorization — control who may access your medical information.

These personal, incapacity-focused documents are generally not restrained by standing orders because they do not transfer property or change insurance beneficiaries — they protect your autonomy and your choice of decision-maker. Still, review your county's standing order and coordinate every change with your attorney so nothing conflicts with temporary orders. We update these at the outset of a divorce, because the gap between filing and the final decree is exactly when a car accident, illness, or emergency would otherwise leave your most personal decisions in the wrong hands.

How is property divided in a Texas divorce, and why does it matter for estate planning?

Texas is a community-property state. Under Texas Family Code § 3.002, property acquired during marriage is presumed community property and is divisible at divorce; under § 3.001, property owned before marriage or received by gift or inheritance is separate property. The community-property presumption in § 3.003 means the spouse claiming an asset is separate has the burden to prove it — often through tracing.

At divorce, the court divides community property in a manner it deems "just and right" under Texas Family Code § 7.001 — which is not always 50/50. The court can consider fault, earning capacity, separate property, and the needs of children.

This matters for estate planning because the character of each asset — community or separate — determines what you can give away, what your spouse can claim, and how your post-divorce estate should be structured. A Highland Park couple dividing a vacation home in Colorado, an interest in a family business, and an inherited trust has very different planning needs than a young family with a single retirement account. Tracing and characterization done during the divorce becomes the foundation of your post-divorce estate plan.

How can you protect inheritance and separate property in a Texas divorce?

Inheritance is generally separate property under Texas law, but it loses that protection when it is commingled with community funds — for example, when inherited cash is deposited into a joint account and used for household expenses or a jointly titled home. Once commingled, the community-property presumption applies and the inheriting spouse must trace the funds to recover them.

To protect separate property through and after divorce:

  • Keep inherited assets in separate, individually titled accounts.

  • Use premarital or postmarital agreements under Texas Family Code Chapter 4 to define what is separate.

  • Trace separate property with clear records during the divorce so the court can confirm it under § 3.001.

  • Re-title and re-document separate property in the post-divorce estate plan.

For families in Southlake, Frisco, and Westlake with substantial inherited wealth, multi-generational trusts, or family limited partnerships, separate-property tracing is often the single most valuable piece of the divorce — and it is an estate-planning exercise as much as a divorce tactic.

Should you use a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement?

Yes — for business owners and couples with substantial assets, marital property agreements under Texas Family Code Chapter 4 are the primary tool for defining what stays separate and how property would be handled if the marriage ends. A premarital agreement is signed before marriage; a postmarital (postnuptial) agreement is signed during the marriage.

These agreements are especially valuable for:

  • A spouse bringing a family business, professional practice, or partnership interest into the marriage.

  • Protecting a future inheritance or an existing trust.

  • Couples in a second marriage who want to direct assets to children from a prior relationship.

  • Business owners in Preston Hollow or McKinney who want to keep the business out of a future community-property division.

A well-drafted prenup or postnup works hand-in-hand with your estate plan: the agreement defines the property, and the estate plan directs it. We draft both together so they do not conflict.

What tax issues come up when dividing property in a Texas divorce?

Under Internal Revenue Code § 1041, transfers of property between spouses or former spouses incident to a divorce generally trigger no gain or loss — the recipient takes the transferor's basis. This means a transfer of a brokerage account or real estate as part of a property division is usually not a taxable event.

But several tax traps remain:

  • Retirement accounts — dividing a 401(k) without a QDRO triggers taxes and early-withdrawal penalties; IRAs require a trustee-to-trustee transfer under the decree to stay tax-free.

  • Retained appreciated assets — if you keep the house and your spouse keeps the cash, you may be taking on a future capital-gains bill and illiquidity.

  • Spousal maintenance — under Texas Family Code Chapter 8, spousal maintenance has strict limits; contractual alimony (a negotiated alternative) offers more flexibility but must be structured correctly for tax treatment.

  • Basis and depreciation — for a business interest or rental portfolio, the division should account for basis, depreciation recapture, and embedded gain.

Texas has no state estate or inheritance tax, but federal estate and gift tax still applies to larger estates — so the way property is divided at divorce directly affects your future estate-tax exposure. We model both sides.

When should you update your estate plan during a divorce?

Ideally, estate planning begins the moment divorce becomes likely and continues through the final decree. The key milestones:

  1. Before filing — review beneficiary designations, powers of attorney, and existing trusts; avoid making changes that could look like dissipation of assets.

  2. During the divorce — temporary orders may restrain transfers; coordinate any planning with the standing orders in your county (Dallas, Collin, Denton, Tarrant).

  3. At finalization — execute a new will, new durable and medical powers of attorney, updated beneficiary designations, and updated trust funding.

  4. After the divorce — confirm titles, re-record deeds, and revisit the plan for blended-family and next-generation planning.

Under Texas Estates Code § 253.001, you can revoke your old will by executing a new one — which is the cleanest path after divorce. We handle the revocation, the new documents, and the re-titling in one coordinated process.

Why choose The Ashmore Law Firm P.C. for divorce and estate planning in Dallas?

Because we handle both. The Ashmore Law Firm, P.C. has served Dallas families for more than 30 years, with a team focused on complex divorce, separate-property tracing, prenuptial agreements, and the estate planning, probate, and trust litigation that protects what the divorce divides.

Led by managing attorney Gary Ashmore — recognized by Super Lawyers, Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent, and Avvo — our team handles the full picture:

  • The divorce itself: complex property division, business valuation, spousal support, custody.

  • The connected estate plan: wills, revocable and irrevocable trusts, powers of attorney, beneficiary updates.

  • The litigation that can arise: will contests, trust and fiduciary litigation, probate disputes.

For a business owner in Plano, an executive in Frisco, or a family in the Park Cities, that means one firm — not three — coordinating your property settlement, your trusts, and your legacy.

Dallas and DFW Areas We Serve

We serve clients across Dallas and the surrounding communities, including the Park Cities (Highland Park and University Park), Preston Hollow, Bluffview, North Dallas, Lake Highlands, Plano, Frisco, McKinney, Prosper, Southlake, Westlake, Colleyville, Flower Mound, Coppell, Irving, Las Colinas, Rockwall, and throughout Dallas, Collin, Denton, and Tarrant Counties.

Related Services

Our divorce and estate planning work connects to the full range of services we offer Dallas families and business owners:

Disclaimer: This page is for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Every divorce and estate plan is different. Statutes are cited as of July 2026; verify current law and consult a licensed Texas attorney before acting. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.

Gary Ashmore | Lori Ashmore Peters
Gary Ashmore | Lori Ashmore Peters
Gary Ashmore |Lori Ashmore Peters: Experience in Complex Family Law |Estate Planning, Trusts & Probate Dallas