When Is It Time To Service Your Estate Plan?
If you own a car, then you know it requires regular servicing in order to perform well and be reliable. Even if that annoying dashboard light never comes on, most people know when it’s time to service their car or at least they know that their failure to service it will ultimately lead to a breakdown.
Like your car, your estate plan needs “servicing” if it is going to perform the way you want, when you need it. Unfortunately, it’s not always obvious to people when that servicing is needed.
Think of it this way. Your estate plan is a snapshot of you, your family, your assets, and the tax laws in effect at the time your plan was created. All of these factors change over time, and so should your plan. It is unreasonable to expect the simple will written when you were a newlywed couple to be as effective as you need it to be now that you have children, or have divorced, or are retired with a gaggle of grandchildren.
Because the snapshot of your life changes, so must your estate plan.
Generally, any change in your personal, family, financial, or health situation, or a change in the tax laws, could prompt a change in your estate plan. Use the following list to guide you.
It’s a good idea to review your estate plan every year. Set aside a specific time (your birthday, anniversary, or tax season) to review it and consider these checkpoints:
You and your spouse, if married
- Marriage, divorce, or separation
- Declining health
- Death of a spouse
- Finances/Assets change dramatically
- Change in business interests
- Real estate purchased in another state or country
Your family
- Birth or adoption
- Marriage or divorce
- Finances change
- Parent or relative becomes dependent on you
- Minor child becomes an adult
- Attitudes/relationships change
- Addiction issues
- Declining health
- Death of family member
Other
- Federal or state tax laws change
- You plan to move to a different state
- Your successor personal representative, trustee, attorney-in-fact, or guardian moves, becomes ill, or changes mind
- You change your mind
Need to revise your estate plan? Bring it in to our team of qualified professionals. Contact Sjoberg & Tebelius, P.A., at 651-315-8856 for a consultation. You can also email us.