It’s very important to review your estate plan at certain times. Failing to conduct a review means you’re never going to make updates, so your plan could be significantly outdated by the time your family ends up using it.
But exactly when should you conduct these reviews? Below are a few examples.
1. If your marital status changes
First and foremost, you may have included your spouse in your estate plan, or you may have made an estate plan when you were single. If you get married or you get divorced, it may be time to make some changes in how assets are allocated, who can make medical decisions for you and things of this nature.
2. If your beneficiaries change
Beneficiaries are the people who will receive assets in your estate plan. But if a beneficiary passes away, you need to select someone else. If a new potential beneficiary is born, such as a grandchild, then you may need to update the plan to include them.
3. If there are other major life changes
In general, you just want to look for big changes in your life that mean your estate plan doesn’t quite work the way it did before. Maybe you recently got a medical diagnosis saying that you have a serious illness, so you need to make some medical decisions in advance. Maybe you sold assets like a vacation property or a home, so you need to remove them from the estate plan. Maybe there have been major changes to your financial situation or your debt levels.
The key is just to focus on making updates so that the plan will be most beneficial for your family. Take the time to carefully look into all of your options while you do so.
