Spring Cleaning your Estate Plan

Spring has sprung and all over my community, people are spring cleaning. 

Just like your closets and homes need to be refreshed and maintained, your Estate Plan does too.  Though most people do not need to change the terms of their Estate Plan frequently, you cannot just “set it and forget it.”

Every year, it is prudent to ensure that your assets are appropriately funded to your Trust.  This means that the title of your real estate/accounts, beneficiary designations accurately correspond with your Estate Planning goals.  Depending on each client, this may look different.  For my practice, we get in touch with clients annually with a year end newsletter to remind them of any changes in relevant laws, as well as the importance of funding the Trust.

My rule of thumb is to review your Estate Plan once every three years or whenever there is a big life change (e.g. family dynamics have changed, someone has passed away, wishes have evolved, assets have changed significantly).  When you are reviewing your Estate Plan, you are looking for a few things:
-Do you still understand how your Estate Plan works and what it says?
-Does your Estate Plan still address your wishes and goals?  These include to whom, by whom, and when.

Unfortunately, too often, when individuals get in touch after a loved one has passed away, they realize that the Trust was not fully funded or that provisions of the Estate Plan did not reflect changed dynamics. 

We want to ensure that we set up and maintain good Estate Plans that the family understands, reflect their goals, and avoid Probate by remaining fully funded.