Updating Your Will and Estate Plan Documents

Your estate plan documents (which generally consist of a will, power of attorney, living will and, for more complex estate plans, a trust or trusts) should generally be reviewed every three to five years. If you experience a major life event or some other event that would cause you to reassess these documents, you should consider the need to change one or more of them. At the same time, you should review your designated primary and successor beneficiaries in your retirement plans and your life insurance policies to ensure they are consistent with your estate plan objectives. For those of us who are confined to our homes by a “stay at home order,” this is a good time to do review them if you have not recently done so.

The following is a list of events that may prompt you to update your estate plan documents:

• Object of your affections has changed due to:
  • Birth of a child or grandchild;
  • Divorce or marriage;
  • Individual you have named as a primary or successor beneficiary is deceased;
  • Desire to add or delete a beneficiary; and
  • A child or grandchild attaining the age of eighteen.
• A move to another state. Although estate plan documents are governed by the laws of each state, the documents will generally be valid in most states as states generally have similar legal requirements. However, if you have moved after your estate plan documents were last reviewed, there may be different requirements in your new state that might require further revision. You should check that your documents will be valid in the new state. In addition, the new state will probably have different inheritance or estate tax laws than your previous state that will need to be taken into account.
• A substantial increase or decrease in the value of your estate, or the acquisition or disposition of a business or of another significant asset. Your estate plan may not have to be as complex or as simple as it once was.
• A change in the named primary or successor executors, trustees, and guardians under your will, or agent under your power of attorney, because the individual you have designated to serve in one or more of these roles is deceased or you feel is no longer capable of serving as such.
• A change in federal and state tax laws. The federal and state tax laws change over time. There may have been a change in such law(s) since your current will was prepared.