Creating an estate plan is an important accomplishment. But your estate plan shouldn’t necessarily remain unchanged for the rest of your life.
Families change. Finances change. People move. Children grow up. New grandchildren arrive. Retirement brings a different set of priorities.
An estate plan that reflected your wishes five, 10, or 20 years ago may not reflect your life today.
Fall can be a particularly good time to think about these questions. Before the holidays arrive and another year comes to a close, take a few minutes to consider whether anything significant has changed since you last reviewed your estate plan.
Here are six major life events that should prompt a closer look.
1. You Got Married
Marriage can change your financial life considerably, making it an important time to create or review an estate plan.
After getting married, consider reviewing your:
- Will
- Trust, if applicable
- Powers of attorney
- Health care documents
- Life insurance beneficiaries
- Retirement account beneficiaries
- Ownership of significant property
Newly married couples should also discuss what they want to happen if one spouse dies and what should happen if both spouses die.
This can become especially important in second marriages or blended families where either spouse has children from a previous relationship.
Rather than assuming everything will automatically work the way you intend, an estate planning review can help make sure your documents and beneficiary designations reflect your new family circumstances.
2. You Got Divorced
Divorce is another major reason to revisit an estate plan.
Your wishes after a divorce may be considerably different from the instructions contained in documents you created while married.
Even when state law affects certain provisions involving a former spouse, relying solely on those rules rather than reviewing your entire plan can create unnecessary uncertainty.
After a divorce, review documents and arrangements such as:
- Your will
- Any trusts
- Powers of attorney
- Health care representatives
- Life insurance beneficiaries
- Retirement accounts
- Transfer-on-death or payable-on-death designations
- Property ownership
- People selected to serve in important roles
If you have children, particularly minor children, additional planning may also be appropriate.
Divorce can affect many pieces of an estate plan, so this is one situation where a comprehensive review with an Indiana estate planning attorney can be particularly valuable.
3. You Welcomed a Child
The birth or adoption of a child can change your estate planning priorities almost overnight.
One of the most important questions for parents is who they would want to care for their minor children if both parents were unable to do so.
Estate planning also provides an opportunity to consider how an inheritance should be managed for a child.
Leaving assets to a young child involves different considerations than leaving property to an adult beneficiary. Parents may want to consider how assets should be managed, who should oversee them, and when a child should receive control.
New parents should also review:
- Guardianship wishes
- Beneficiary designations
- Life insurance coverage and beneficiaries
- Wills and trusts
- Powers of attorney
- Health care documents
Having a child is a significant life change, and your estate plan should grow along with your family.
4. You Became a Grandparent
The arrival of grandchildren may create another reason to revisit your plan.
Perhaps your existing documents leave your estate to your children, but you now want to provide something directly to your grandchildren.
Or perhaps you want to help with future education expenses, establish a trust, make charitable gifts in your family’s name, or reconsider how assets will ultimately pass from one generation to the next.
Grandchildren can also raise questions about what happens if one of your children dies before you.
Does your current estate plan address that possibility?
Would that child’s share pass to your grandchildren?
Does your existing plan reflect what you would want to happen?
These are questions worth answering before they become necessary.
5. You Moved
Moving can be easy to overlook as an estate planning event.
If you move within Indiana, you may have purchased or sold real estate, changed how property is titled, or experienced other financial changes that should be reflected in your planning.
Moving to Indiana from another state deserves particular attention.
Estate planning and probate laws vary by state. Documents prepared elsewhere may still have legal significance, but an Indiana attorney can review them to determine whether changes would be advisable under Indiana law and your current circumstances.
A move is also a good opportunity to make sure the people named in your documents are still practical choices.
For example, someone you selected to serve in an important role when they lived nearby may now be hundreds of miles away.
6. You're Approaching or Entering Retirement
Retirement is one of the most natural times to conduct a comprehensive estate plan review.
By this stage of life, your finances may look significantly different than they did when your original documents were created.
You may have:
- Retirement accounts
- Investment accounts
- Real estate
- Life insurance
- Business interests
- Different income needs
- Adult children and grandchildren
- New charitable goals
You may also be thinking more seriously about who could help manage your affairs if your health changes.
Retirement planning and estate planning are not the same thing, but they frequently intersect.
Reviewing your estate plan as you enter retirement can help ensure your legal documents, beneficiary designations, property, and long-term wishes continue to work together.
Other Changes That May Mean It's Time for an Update
Major milestones aren’t the only reason to review an estate plan.
Consider scheduling a review if:
- A spouse or beneficiary has died
- The person named as executor or another fiduciary is no longer an appropriate choice
- Your relationship with a beneficiary has changed
- You bought or sold significant property
- You started, purchased, or sold a business
- Your financial circumstances changed significantly
- A family member developed special needs
- You want to add or change charitable gifts
- Your wishes regarding health care have changed
- It has simply been many years since you looked at your documents
Sometimes the reason to review an estate plan isn’t a dramatic event. It is simply the passage of time.
Don't Forget Your Beneficiary Designations
Updating a will does not necessarily update everything else.
Certain assets may pass according to beneficiary designations or ownership arrangements rather than solely according to your will.
That makes it important to review accounts such as:
- Life insurance
- Retirement accounts
- Certain bank and investment accounts
- Accounts with payable-on-death or transfer-on-death designations
Your estate planning documents and beneficiary designations should be considered together so they support your overall intentions.
A Quick Estate Plan Review Checklist
Before the end of the year, ask yourself:
- Has my marital status changed?
- Have I had or adopted children?
- Do I have new grandchildren?
- Has someone named in my estate plan died?
- Are my beneficiaries still the people I want to inherit my property?
- Are the people I’ve selected to make financial or health care decisions still appropriate?
- Have I reviewed my life insurance and retirement beneficiaries?
- Have I bought or sold significant property?
- Have I started, purchased, or sold a business?
- Have I moved since my documents were prepared?
- Have my finances changed significantly?
- Am I approaching or entering retirement?
- Does my estate plan still reflect what I want today?
If you’re unsure about several of those answers, it may be time for an estate plan review.
Before the Holidays, Take Another Look at Your Plan
The holidays often bring families together, making fall a natural time to think about how your family has changed over the past year—or over the years since your estate plan was created.
You don’t necessarily need to rewrite your estate plan every year.
But you should know whether the plan you already have still reflects your life and your wishes.
If you’ve experienced a major life change or simply haven’t reviewed your documents in several years, the attorneys at DKK can review your existing estate plan, discuss what’s changed, and help determine whether updates are appropriate.
This article is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Estate planning needs and legal requirements vary depending on individual circumstances. Consult a qualified attorney regarding your specific situation.
Frequently Asked Questions
There isn't one schedule that's right for everyone. Major life changes should prompt a review, and it can also be helpful to periodically review your estate plan even when nothing significant appears to have changed.
Marriage is an important reason to review your estate plan. You may need to reconsider your will, trust, powers of attorney, health care documents, beneficiary designations, and ownership of property to make sure your plan reflects your new circumstances.
Divorce can affect an existing estate plan in several ways. Because the effect can depend on the document, asset, and circumstances, it is wise to have your entire estate plan and beneficiary designations reviewed by an Indiana attorney after a divorce rather than assuming everything has automatically been addressed.
The birth or adoption of a child is an important reason to review your will and broader estate plan. Parents may want to address guardianship wishes, how assets would be managed for a minor child, beneficiary designations, and life insurance.
Not necessarily, but the arrival of grandchildren is a good reason to review your plan. You may want to provide directly for grandchildren, reconsider how assets pass between generations, or determine what happens if one of your children dies before you.
If your estate planning documents were prepared in another state, consider having an Indiana estate planning attorney review them. State laws differ, and a review can help determine whether your existing documents continue to accomplish your goals after the move.
Retirement is an excellent time for a comprehensive review. Your assets, retirement accounts, income, beneficiaries, family circumstances, and long-term goals may have changed significantly since your original estate plan was prepared.
Not necessarily. Assets such as life insurance policies and retirement accounts may have separate beneficiary designations. Those designations should be reviewed along with your estate planning documents.
That is a reason to review your estate plan. Relationships, health, geography, and circumstances change over time. The people selected for important roles should continue to be people you trust and who are appropriate for those responsibilities.
Yes. An estate plan review does not automatically mean everything needs to be replaced. An attorney can review your current documents and circumstances and help identify whether changes are appropriate.