Updating Estate Documents
A common questions clients ask me after their estate plan has been finalized and signed is “How often do I need to update my plan?”. While there is no simple answer to this question as it all depends on life changes and your circumstances, I do always provide the following general guidelines:
1. At a minimum I recommend reviewing your plan at least every 3-5 years (annually is ideal, but I want to give a realistic goal). This does not mean you have to review the plan with your attorney – simply take a look at your documents to confirm there have been no major changes in your life, the lives of the beneficiaries, or the lives of the fiduciaries that necessitate a change and also to confirm the documents still reflect your wishes.
2. Always review your documents if there are any major life changes, such a marriage, divorce, birth, death, retirement, increase (or decrease) in wealth, obtaining new assets or selling assets (in particular real estate), and moving jurisdictions. It is not necessary but may be helpful to consult an attorney to confirm if any of these major life changes affect your planning. For my clients this can often be a quick email or short conversation to confirm the plan in place still works, but sometimes it does require a more in-depth conversation to discuss recommended changes and options. Often during this conversation an individual may discover the documents need other tweaks to reflect their current wishes.
3. Plans drafted before 2020 and especially those drafted before 2010 should be reviewed and likely revised. There have been a number of changes in recent years regarding the SECURE Act (e.g. how retirement accounts are treated) and the federal (and possibly state) estate tax threshold. Although I as an estate planning attorney try to draft documents to account for numerous contingencies and flexibility, major changes in the law can still make your plan less effective or have unintended consequences. A refresh of these plans can help clarify your wishes and ensure your plan works as intended.
If you already have an estate plan in place, but think you might want to make some changes or just want to discuss your current plan with an attorney please contact us for a consultation. We offer a number of services for updating plans, including a complimentary consultation, a flat rate review and consultation, hourly updates, as well as flat rate updates.