Estate plan review checklist update#

Review your will, checking for updates that may need to be made because of a change in your life or a beneficiary’s.This checklist can help you prepare, care for others and manage the distribution of your assets.

The underlying question: Does your plan meet your current goals? Use This Helpful Checklist Have you recently celebrated the birth of a new family member? Moved to a new state? Experienced a large financial windfall or a loss? Changed relationship status? They are all good reasons to review your estate plan. Are they still able and willing to perform these jobs as you’d like them done? Has your estate changed so that someone else now is a better choice? Has anyone aged, moved away or passed away? Determine who is the best choice for these positions today.When life changes, your estate plan should too. Carefully reconsider the people appointed in your estate plan. Even when the appointments were made carefully at first, circumstances might have changed. Most people don't give a lot of consideration to these appointments. The executors and trustees are the people who implement your plan and often determine how successful it is. Be sure to review all these forms and amend them if that’s desired.Įxecutors or trustees become inappropriate. Updating the beneficiary designations is especially important if the value of your account increased substantially.īeneficiary designations also control who receives annuities, life insurance, some financial accounts, and some other assets. Often these forms haven’t been reviewed in 10 years or more. The beneficiary of these accounts is determined by the beneficiary designation form on file with the plan, not your will or trust.

Estate plan review checklist update#

One of the major mistakes in estate plans is failing to update the beneficiary designations of IRAs, 401(k)s and other retirement plans. Your qualified retirement plan is outdated. Either change means a reassessment of the plan is in order. You might have sold an asset, such as a business or real estate, that was a major part of the estate.

You need to review how the property is divided and decide if that still is what you want in light of the new circumstances.Ī change in the composition of your estate also merits a review. A significant change in the value of your estate since the plan was drafted should cause a review, whether the estate’s value increased or decreased. You also might be more (or less) charitably inclined than you were or want to change the charities included in your will. Of course, you might have divorced, remarried or become widowed since the will was written. You also might want to disinherit someone who’s been irresponsible with money or is estranged from the family. There might be a death or divorce in the family. There might be instances when it is appropriate to delete someone who formerly was included in the estate plan. You also might have a new in-law and want to revise the documents to reflect that. That would avoid potential conflicts and lawsuits. It’s best to revise the documents so the new family members are named and specifically included. There might be a new child or grandchild.

For most people, this happens when there’s an addition to the family. Many of the states with those taxes assert that people haven’t changed their legal residence and their estates are fully taxable in their old states. This is particularly important when you have a substantial estate and moved from a state with inheritance or estate taxes. You also should work with your estate planner to establish proof that you changed residence. If you moved, these documents need to be updated for your new state or they could be ineffective. State laws vary on other elements of the estate plan, such as powers of attorney, advance medical directives, living wills and more. Also, some states still have inheritance or estate taxes, while most don’t. Many states, for example, require that a spouse inherit a minimum share of the estate, but the requirement varies between the states. Some of the differences can seem trivial, such as the number of witnesses required in order for a will to be valid. Each state has its own laws with their difference nuances.