How often do you review your estate plan documents? Hold on! Have you even considered reviewing your estate plan? It is not enough to make an estate plan and leave it there over the years. Estate Planning is not a one-time thing. It requires constant follow ups and regular review.
A well-reviewed estate plan is an error free plan. Estate plan review is just as important as making the plan in the first place. Things change from time to time, you may get a divorce, have a new child in the family etc. These changes ought to reflect in your estate plan.
It is advisable to review your estate plan at a regular interval or after a major event takes place in your life. Possible events which should make you review your estate include:
Marriage
Now that you are married, there has to be an update or review of your estate plan. This is important as you will have to make provisions for your spouse in your estate plan.
Neglecting to update your estate plan after marriage will definitely lead to crises should something happen to you. This might make your spouse stranded and penniless as she won’t be able to access your assets or this could mean that your spouse won’t even have a share in your inheritance because your estate plan documents –say, your will – was not updated after marriage.
This is something you wouldn’t want. So make sure after your marriage you review and update your estate plan.
Birth of a child
After the birth of a new child, you will have to review and update your estate plan to avoid a situation whereby he or she will be excluded from your estate plan.
It might not necessarily be the birth of a new child; it could be an adoption or a stepchild that joined the family. In the event of any of these, you should make sure that your estate plan is reviewed and updated in order to make provisions for the child.
Separation of a spouse
In the case of one spouse leaving the other, it is important your estate plan is updated. It could be in the case of death also the separation may be due to divorce. Whichever it is, a lot will defiantly change and these changes must reflect in your estate plan. For instance, the death of a spouse of which you named him or her as your executor. You will have to update this in your estate plan document –will –and give the role to someone else. Also, you will have to update your estate plan in order for you to assign what was supposed to go to him or her to someone else when you die.
Opening of a new account
This could be a brokerage portfolio or a bank account. Whichever it is, you will have to review your estate plan with your attorney. This will make certain that your named beneficiary when opening your account is in correspondence to those who you name in your will.
Care has to be taken in other to avoid this error. Also, a proper plan will help to prevent your accounts from being frozen in the future when you are no more.
Acquisition of a new property
Acquiring a new property is a major event in your life and of course, just like the others it has to reflect in your estate plan. You want to be very careful by remembering to add the new property of yours to your trust if you wish to avoid tax. Not adding it to your trust means it will have to go through probate when you die. Probate won’t be necessary if you just remember to update your estate plan and include this new property of yours to your trust. Doing this will save your family stress and time.
You are not to make an estate plan and abandon it. You have to review it constantly, update it alongside occurrence of new event. Make necessary changes if need be, correct errors which might have occurred earlier.
Do you need advice or counsel about what to do concerning a situation which involves reviewing your estate plan? Our attorneys are always available to help.
