When was the last time your reviewed your will, Trust, Power of Attorney and Advanced Medical Directive? Last year? Five years ago? Was it 10 years? Not since signing them? Or maybe you don’t have estate planning documents? When our clients execute their estate planning document they often ask that question: “When should I review them?”
Our answer is that you should review your documents:
After any Major Life Change
- Marriage
- Divorce
- Births
- Death – including the deaths of your named executors and agents
Major Law Changes
- Tax laws
- Inheritance laws
- Laws effecting wills (Trusts, Powers of Attorney, Advanced Medical Directive, etc.)
Periodic Updates
- Every 5 or 10 years, just for the good of the order.
Now we can add one more: during the downtime of a global pandemic. Why? While you are waiting to go back to work, now is a good time to dust off those papers, review your named agents, successors, and beneficiaries, and doing so won’t cost you a dime. If it turns out a change is necessary, you can reach out to your professionals and make those changes.
