After you set up your estate plan, you may think you are done. A will may be meant to reflect your final wishes, but life changes over time and your estate plan should too.
Milestones
Estate plans should be subject to regular reviews to ensure they are current and meeting your needs and those of your family. In addition, there are certain circumstances that may pop up in your life that may lead you to review and possibly modify your estate plan including:
- After you move: Estate planning requirements and laws are not the same everywhere. For that reason, if you move to another state, you should ensure your estate plan remains valid in your new state.
- Relationships change: One of the primary tasks of an estate plan is to manage the distribution of assets to beneficiaries. For that reason, if your relationships change and you marry, divorce, welcome a child or experience a death in the family, you should include those changed relationships in your estate plan.
- Assets or liabilities change: Because estate planning is used to distribute assets, any significant changes to those assets or liabilities should be included in any revision of your estate plan.
- Changes to executors or trustees: Estate planning includes naming executors and trustees. Over time, you may wish to change who your executor or named trustee is. You can do that through a review of your estate plan.
Changing and updating an estate plan does not have to be a big deal because many tools are available to help with an estate plan that reflects your wishes. An experienced estate planning attorney can help you understand your options.