It is the start of a new year. This means it is the ideal time to check your legal documents to ensure they are up-to-date for the year. Specifically, you should be reviewing your estate plan regularly. Here are some tips to remind you of The Importance of Reviewing Your Estate Plan Regularly.
How often should you review your estate plan?
It is recommended that you look over your estate plan every three-five years or when major life changes occur. It is important that you review or revise your estate plan if you get married/remarried, have a child, would like to disinherit someone, get divorced, lose one of your beneficiaries, have new assets, would like to change a trustee/beneficiary/power of attorney/directive/guardian of your child, move to a new state, have new tax laws, etc. If years have passed, or if there is a change that would warrant an alteration of your plan, it is important you at least review your estate plan.
What should you look at?
For your regular reviews, you should look over everything and figure out if anything needs to be altered. If you’re reviewing your estate plan because of a specific life change, you can look more specifically at the areas you would like to alter. For example, if you get divorced, you may want to remove your ex-spouse as a beneficiary/power of attorney. If you have a child, it is important that you name a guardian for them in case of you and the other parent’s death. You may also want to add your child as a beneficiary. If you have new assets, you may want to add them in a trust or add beneficiaries to the assets.
Why is reviewing an estate plan important?
Life is unpredictable. Things happen quickly and it is better to be safe than sorry. It is critical to have your affairs in order just in case something were to happen to you. Also, circumstances change very frequently. A life change may occur that you don’t even realize could impact your estate plan. Additionally, new tax codes/laws could go into effect and alter your estate plan wishes. Reviewing your estate plan frequently can prevent surprises or scrambling to make dozens of alterations.
What if you need help reviewing or altering your estate plan?
While you’re reviewing your estate plan, it is beneficial to hire an attorney to help you make sense of it and ensure everything is up to date. Also, if you find you are in need of making alterations, an attorney can quickly and effectively make changes on your behalf.
Let Jacobson Family Law be the attorneys you trust with your estate planning needs. Contact Jacobson Family Law to schedule your consultation with one of our Maryland estate planning attorneys today at 443-741-1147 or schedule a consultation online.
