Reasons to Review Your Will and Estate Plan
Like life, you should consider your will or estate plan to be an evolving and ever-changing document to reflect the changes in your life. It is very important that you review your personal and financial situation on an annual basis, and then determine whether your will or other estate planning documents still protect your estate and carry out your wishes. The checklist below can help you.
If any of the following changes occur, you should have your attorney review the potential effect on your will and estate plan to determine whether they should be revised. (This list is not exhaustive.)
Changes Affecting Family and Personal Matters
- Marriage (and pre-nuptial or post nuptial agreement)
- Separation from, divorce from, or death of spouse
- Development of long-term, committed, unmarried relationship
- Dissolution of long-term relationship or death of domestic partner
- Birth, adoption, maturity, marriage, divorce, or death of a child or grandchild
- Death of a beneficiary
- Serious illness, incapacity or diminished capacity of spouse, domestic partner, child, or any other significant beneficiary
- Significant change in economic status of spouse, domestic partner, child, or any other significant beneficiary
- Significant change in relationship between you and any beneficiary
- Significant change in your health
- Change of your residence to another state or country
- Name change for you or a beneficiary
- Change in relationship between you and a person named as executor, trustee, or guardian
- Incapacity, unavailability, or death of a person named as executor, trustee, or guardian
- Changes in state or federal laws, especially in the areas of probate, tax, bankruptcy, social security, trust or estate laws
Changes in Your Financial Status
- Significant change in income, net worth, or nature of assets
- Disposal of specific assets mentioned in will
- Change in employment
- Change in business interests; new partnership or corporation; dissolution of partnership or corporation.
- Need to exclude an heir, or protect property from present or future creditors
- Acquisition or disposal of property in a different state or country
- Changes in state or federal tax laws [should this stand alone or be subsumed in item above?]
- Need to coordinate plan with “non-probate” property (life insurance, retirement plans, annuities, long-term health care, etc.)
- Retirement