If you are in the process of going through a divorce, you are already aware of the plethora of issues that you must negotiate with your spouse. You are likely sick of hearing about the pages-long list of issues, such as allocating your marital property and determining whether or not spousal support is necessary, which all need to be reconciled with your spouse before you can finalize your divorce. With so many other issues at the forefront of your concerns, many people end up forgetting about one very important aspect that should be taken care of during the divorce -- your estate plan. If you ever had a will or you and your spouse ever started to plan for the future, you will want to be sure to update your estate plan accordingly before your divorce is finalized. Here are a few things you should keep in mind about your estate plan when getting a divorce:

• Understand what documents you currently have in place. The first thing you should do is to understand what type of estate plan you have in place already. Every estate plan is different and tailored to each person’s specific needs, so you should familiarize yourself with your current estate plan if you are not familiar with it already. You may already have estate planning documents, such as:

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As many as half of all marriages in the United States end in divorce. While divorce still tends to have a negative stigma surrounding it, it is often the best choice that a person can make. You are better off being divorced and happy than continuing to live in a miserable marriage. Some people may think that a divorce is the end of their romantic lives, but many people use their divorce as an opportunity to reconnect with themselves and find a partner who is the right fit for them. If you are considering remarriage, it does not come without its own set of complications. Here are three things you should consider before you tie the knot again:

Make Sure the Timing Is Right

Experts say that you should wait about a year before you begin dating again after you have been divorced. This allows you to spend some time outside of a romantic relationship, which you can use to get in touch with yourself, rediscover your interests and determine what you want in your next romantic relationship. Remarrying too soon after a divorce can be a recipe for failure, but the timing can differ for everyone. If it feels natural to get remarried, then you are probably ready.

How Will Your Children React to the Remarriage?

Children can have a lot of opinions about a lot of things - and your remarriage will be no exception. Getting married again means inviting a new person into your life, but that also means that this person will be in your children’s lives as well. Before you get married again, talk to your children about how they feel and see what they have to say about the idea. While it is ultimately not their decision, it can be beneficial for both you and them if they are on board.

After months of negotiation and a seemingly endless wait for the court, you finally have been granted your divorce. Your divorce decree most likely represents an opportunity to start fresh and to pursue a happy life, following a less than ideal marriage. In the days and weeks following your divorce, you will probably have a list of details to address such as possibly changing your name—if you changed it when you married—or opening new, individual accounts. One of the most important things you will need to do—and one that is frequently overlooked—is to change your beneficiaries on existing investment plans, life insurance policies, and estate planning documents like wills and trusts.

Binding Contracts

When you created your retirement account or purchased your life insurance policy, you were probably asked to designate beneficiaries. For a retirement plan, your plan administrator keeps beneficiary information on file will disburse your investments to those individuals in the event of your death.  Similarly, the whole purpose of your life insurance policy is to pay benefits to your designated beneficiaries when you die. These agreements are binding contracts which are not necessarily broken by the existence of a divorce decree.