It can take a lot of thoughtfulness and perseverance to confront your own mortality and create an estate plan that you’re comfortable with. While it might feel like a burden has been lifted off your shoulders once that documentation is complete, it’s really only the start of your estate planning journey since you should revisit your estate plan every couple of years to ensure that it still aligns with your wishes.
Are there other times when you should revisit or modify your estate plan?
Absolutely. There are several events that should trigger you to look over your estate plan. This includes the following circumstances:
- You get divorced or married.
- Your beneficiaries get divorced or married.
- You or your beneficiaries have children.
- You acquire a new large asset.
- The dynamics of your relationships change.
- You want to modify how assets are left to your already named beneficiaries.
- You move to a different state or acquire assets in a different state.
- You start to have doubts about those you’ve named as a trustee or executor.
If you don’t make changes when warranted, then your estate plan can become ineffective and result in those you never intended to inherit taking control of your assets. So, be sure to revisit your estate plan when major life events occur.
Ensuring that your estate plan meets your goals
One of the great things about estate planning is that you can customize the process to suit your needs. But it’ll require work on your part to ensure that you’re utilizing the right estate planning vehicles and keeping them up to date. If you’re intimidated by the process, don’t worry. This isn’t a something that you have to try to navigate entirely on your own.