One important thing to remember with estate planning is that, even after initially drafting your plan, you don’t want to neglect it. In some cases, you need to sit down and review the plan to see if updates are necessary.
But when should you do it? A good idea is to focus on triggering events. When certain life events occur, it’s a signal that at least a review is necessary. That review may then expose the need to make critical updates to your plan.
Examples of life events
Everyone’s scenario is unique, of course, but the following are some events you may want to consider:
- Getting married or divorced: It may be necessary to remove your ex from your estate plan or to add a new spouse. You may also need to consider a blended family if you’ve remarried and your new spouse has children from a previous relationship.
- A serious medical diagnosis: If you are diagnosed with a serious disease, such as cancer or Alzheimer’s, it may be time to update your plan. It’s important to do this while you still have the mental capacity to make changes, and you should address things like a medical power of attorney and your end-of-life care preferences.
- The birth of a beneficiary: When a child or grandchild is born, it may be important to update your plan to include this new beneficiary. This could mean adjusting the way that assets are allocated to those already in the estate plan.
- Removing a beneficiary: There are some reasons you may need to remove a beneficiary from the plan. For example, you may want to disinherit someone if you’ve become estranged, or you may need to remove a beneficiary who has passed away.
As you can see, it’s important to make estate planning updates. Be sure that you know about all of the legal steps you should take at this time.
