Estate plans are intended to evolve as major events occur like births, deaths, and divorce. You should not think of the terms of your estate plan as written in stone. Instead, you should plan to review and revise your estate plan every few years. You should also make sure to examine your estate planning document after major life events occur. The following are some important questions you should ask yourself when you perform your regular estate plan review.  Potential Changes to Estate Distribution Plans Various events including the birth and death of loved ones can end up shaping how you would like to pass on assets. While reviewing your estate, one of the best places to begin is to ask yourself whether your estate plan still effectively passed on your assets in a way that conforms with your wishes. If you got divorced or married, you should make sure that your estate plan fully considers your new spouse.  If you have had children since you last revised your estate plan, you should consider how you would like to pass on assets to your children. Or, if your children have had children since the time you last wrote your estate plan, [...]

If your life changes for reasons like death, divorce, marriage, or birth, you should make sure to update your estate plan. Unfortunately, while many people appreciate the importance of updating their estate plans, a large number of people fail to do so. While it is tempting to think of written documents as written in stone, in reality, estate planning is an evolving process. After undergoing several life changes, some people find that the terms of their estate plan have changed so much that they no longer fit the creator’s situation. Reviewing your estate plan every few years is one of the best ways to ensure that your needs and goals are met. Review Distribution Terms To make sure that your asset distributions goals are satisfied, you should review the terms found in your last will and testament or revocable trust. These estate planning documents address how your assets will be distributed at the time that you pass away. As your children age, these provisions might need revision based on the particular facts of each child’s circumstances. For example, one child might have special needs or another child might have a gambling addiction and would have a difficult time preserving assets.  [...]

Nearly half of Americans who are over the age of 55 do not have a will. Only 18% of people in this age range have the recommended legacy planning elements, which include advanced health care directives and powers of attorney. While it remains uncertain how many people fail to update their estate plan routinely, this is likely also a large number. Estate planners often must invest a great deal of energy to establish estate and wealth plans that fit a person’s needs and make sure that their estate goals work together. As clients’ situations change, however, they often fail to inform estate planning lawyers so that adequate changes can be made to the corresponding documents.  Life Changes Warrant Updating Your Estate Plan After the births of new family members, deaths of close loved ones, and even after a divorce, the best practice is to update your estate plan. Over time, parents’ relationships with their children will change. Children can also encounter various problems throughout life that alter the way that a parent wants assets to be distributed. Changes in a child’s life can also end up influencing that child’s ability to act as an agent or trustee of a parent’s [...]

Estate plans are not meant to be written in stone. Instead, after creating an estate plan, it is a good idea to routinely revisit the terms of your plan to make sure that it still expresses your values for how to handle your estate in case you are incapacitated or pass away. While they might not seem major, even small changes in your personal life or in the area of tax law can have a substantial impact on the terms of your estate plan. This article reviews some of the critical areas that you should remember to review when it comes time to evaluate the terms of your estate plan. Whether Circumstances That Influence Decisions Have Changed For many people, it is an understatement that 2020 was a year full of change. While children were born and some people got married, there were also many divorces and serious illnesses. Each of these changes has the potential to substantially disrupt your estate plan. For example, a beneficiary might have unexpectedly passed away which means that you will need to appoint another party to receive this share of your estate. Another example might be a person who decides to leave an amount [...]

Creating an estate plan is one of the most powerful ways to leave a lasting reminder of your love for family and friends. Unfortunately, the best estate plans are not written in stone. Instead, your estate planning strategies should grow and change based on various evolving life situations.  As we weather the coronavirus pandemic and as we overcome countless challenges, it is important to make sure that your estate plan considers life changes. This article reviews four events that should cause you to review the terms of your estate plan. Divorce and Marriage Whether you just entered into a marriage or recently ended one, it is important to consider the relationship that current or former spouses have to estate plans. If you are entering into a new marriage, you likely want to make sure that your spouse is written into your estate plan in a way that most greatly minimizes tax issues.  Conversely, if you are ending a marriage, you likely want to make sure that your ex is properly excluded from your estate plan, which includes making sure that your ex is left out of any assets that pass through beneficiary designations. The Death of a Loved One Losing [...]