Updating Your Estate Plan

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Updating Your Estate Plan

Estate Planning is not a ‘once-and-done’ kind of thing.

You are never really done with an estate plan. When your life changes – it’s time to think about your plan.

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When your life changes – so should your Estate Plan.

While not every change in your life will call for an update to your estate plan, there are many that do.

You can use our Online Estate Plan Self-Audit Review Tool or Download our Estate Plan Review Checklist to reflect on what may have changed in your life that would impact your Estate Plan. If you need to make a revision, we’re here to help you do that!

What Life Circumstances Affect Your Estate Plan?

There are some common circumstances that typically impact your estate plan when they occur. Review this list and be sure to use our handy Review Tools provided above to ensure your plan stays up to date!

Think back for a moment – think of all the changes in your life over the past year (or more). What’s changed since you signed your will, trust, and other estate planning documents? If something has changed that affects you, your trusted helpers, or your beneficiaries, your estate plan probably needs to reflect that change.

Here are examples of changes that are significant enough to warrant an estate plan review and, potentially a revision to your plan:

A Birth
An Adoption
A Marriage
A Divorce or separation
A Death
Addictions
Incapacity/disability

Health challenges
Any Financial status changes – good or bad
Tax law changes (!!)
Moving to a new state
Change in Family circumstances – for good or bad
Change in Business circumstances – for good or bad

Does Your Estate Plan Pass the “Stress Test”

When was the last time you updated your will or living trust?

Has life changed?
Had a child?
Divorced?
Moved to a new state?
Opened or sold a business?
Or, just changed your mind about the type of legacy you want to leave behind?

If big life events have occurred, strongly consider updating your plan as soon as possible. Also, keep in mind that there may have been changes in the law since your last update that could significantly affect your plan.

- Who have you named as executor and trustee? If you had to start your planning over from scratch today, would you still name the same people? If not, why not? Did you choose the best person for the job or was your choice based on less relevant factors? Is the person you chose still available to serve in that role?

- Do you have adequate insurance? Many people do not have enough insurance for themselves or their businesses. They also fail to name contingent beneficiaries. Get your insurance policies in order, and make sure your designations match your estate plan.

- How much of your property is jointly owned with someone other than your spouse? Jointly owned property has the potential to be double taxed. Take a look at your real property and seek advice on the proper adjustments to make in order to save on taxes when it’s really necessary to save on taxes.

- How’s your record keeping? Nothing drives an executor crazy like sloppy record keeping. Not only that, but sloppy record keeping will drive up the cost of your estate’s final administration cost – keeping precious dollars out of your beneficiaries and heirs hands.

- When was the last time you gave your plan a thorough once-over? Even if nothing “huge” has happened in your life recently, if it’s been over three years since a qualified estate planning attorney has assessed your strategy, schedule a time to meet.

If your estate plan hasn’t been updated in the past 2 years (or at least reviewed), or failed the above “stress test” – please don’t hesitate to reach out to schedule a review with us. An outdated plan can be just as bad as no plan at all, especially if your wishes or circumstances have changed. Use the form at the bottom of this page to get in touch. We’re here to help!

ONLINE ESTATE PLAN REVIEW TOOL

USE OUR NEW ONLINE SELF-AUDIT REVIEW TOOL TO REFLECT We are very excited to release our new Online Self-Audit Estate Plan Review Tool! This tool was developed to help guide you through some basic questions and reflect on how things have changed over the past year (or more). This tool will help you determine if anything that happened in your life over the past year may have impacted your current estate plan, and remind you of things you need to do to keep you plan in good working order.

Start Your Review Today!

If you’d prefer to download a PDF copy of the checklist to print out, you can download it here!

DOWNLOAD YOUR CHECKLIST NOW

Do you think you need to update your Estate Plan?

Let us know and we’ll help you get things back in order!