All adults should ensure they have an estate plan in place so their loved ones know how to handle their final affairs. Creating the estate plan can be a challenging undertaking, but it’s not something that can be done once and forgotten. The estate plan isn’t going to be effective if the terms don’t provide accurate instructions to your loved ones.
It’s important for you to understand what circumstances will require you to review your estate plan. Taking a look at everything when these occur can help you to determine if there’s anything that needs to be updated.
Major life circumstances that necessitate an estate plan review
Certain common life milestones mean that you need to look at the estate plan to ensure that it is still accurate. Some of these situations include:
- Marriage
- Birth or adoption of a child
- Divorce
- Children becoming adults
- Death of anyone named in the estate plan
- Purchase or sale of assets
- Changes in estate planning laws
- Relocation to another state
It might also be necessary to review and update the plan if there are changes in your relationship with anyone in the plan. As you update points in your estate plan, you should review the comprehensive plan to ensure that the change didn’t affect any other areas.
Even if you don’t have any major life changes, it’s still critical that you periodically review your estate plan. It’s best to review the plan at least every five years. Working with someone familiar with these matters may be beneficial to ensure that you have everything set up in a way that accurately reflects your wishes.