When is the Right Time in Life to Update My Estate Planning?

By Lane V. Erickson, Attorney

The estate planning blogs that we have posted on our website mainly talk about the importance and reasons why you should complete your own personal estate planning. I do have a number of clients who have their estate planning done. When this occurs, many of them come to me and ask me about when it would be important for them to update their estate planning. I explain to my clients that there are several major life changes that could occur that are a good reason to pull out their estate planning documents and decide if changes need to be made. Here is a list of these major life changes:

1. DEATH OF A PERSON

It goes without saying that if a person you have named as either a beneficiary or as a fiduciary in your own estate planning dies, this may be a good reason to update or change your estate planning. For example if you have name somebody to be your personal representative but that person has died, you may want to make some changes about who you name in your estate planning documents as your personal representative. So if someone close to you has died, this is a good reason to pull your estate planning out and review it to see if you need it to be updated.

2. BIRTH OF A PERSON

As with death, the birth of a person in your family may be a reason to change your estate planning documents. For instance, if you have a new child that is born you certainly want to name this child in your estate planning documents. If you fail to do this, you are setting up a situation where the law will come in and change your estate planning documents to care for the child that you have failed to mention. This may change drastically the estate planning decisions that you have made. If a person is born into your family, this is almost always an automatic reason to update and change your estate planning.

3. DIVORCE

Common sense would tell you that if you or some other close member of your family has recently been divorced, it is time to make some changes to your estate planning documents. If, for example, you have been divorced, it’s more than likely that your previous spouse was named as a beneficiary in your estate planning documents. It’s also likely that this person could have been named as a fiduciary such as a personal representative. If you have divorced this individual it is highly unlikely that you still want them to be a part of your estate planning. This is also true of a child who has divorced. It is likely that you will not want a person who was you’re in-law, but now who no longer is due to divorce, to receive any portion of your estate. If a divorce has recently occurred in your family, either to you or to a close family member, take a look at your estate planning documents and see if any changes need to be made.

4. SECOND MARRIAGE

Along with divorce is often a second marriage. If either you or your spouse are in your second marriage, you will likely want to make some changes to your estate planning to provide for your spouse but not necessarily allow all of your property to pass to your spouse’s children. The situation often occurs where a second marriage spouse will receive the entire estate and then when they die they pass it along to their children making no provision for your children. In almost every circumstance a second marriage is an automatic reason to update your estate planning documents so that your wishes and family are provided for.

5. YOU HAVE MOVED

If you have recently moved, especially if you have move to a new state, this is a good reason to review your estate planning documents and make sure that they are still valid. Most states will recognize a valid estate planning document that was completed in another state and brought into their state by a person who has moved. However, this is not always the case. Because of this, it is wise to review your estate planning documents if you have recently moved to a new state.

6. THE PASSAGE OF TIME

The final reason I give to my clients to review their estate planning documents to see if they need to be updated it is simply the passage of time. Time has a way of changing our life dramatically. People tend to die, or be born, or move, or many other things can happen as well, including changes to the law. With the passage of time, the plans that we had previously made may no longer be valid. It’s for this reason that if more than five or six years have gone by, I counsel my clients to pull out their estate planning documents and review them and make sure that they still do what they want. Most of the time, the estate planning documents are fine. However, often because of the passage of time, an update needs to be made.

If you have questions about whether your estate planning documents need to be updated, we can help. Call us toll free at 877-232-6101 or 208-232-6101 for a consultation with Lane Erickson and the Racine Olson team of Estate Planning attorneys in Idaho. You can also email Lane Erickson directly at lve@racinelaw.net. We will answer your Idaho Estate Planning questions and will help you solve your Idaho Estate Planning problems.

This website includes general information about legal issues and developments in the law. Such materials are for informational purposes only and may not reflect the most current legal developments. These informational materials are not intended, and must not be taken, as legal advice on any particular set of facts or circumstances. You need to contact a lawyer for advice on specific legal issues.

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