Your estate plan is not written in stone. Once it is complete, you can go back and make changes at any time.
In fact, there are times when reviewing your trust, will and other estate planning documents is a good idea. These three events don’t happen every week. But when they do occur, you should think about contacting your estate planning attorney to set up a meeting to look at your estate plan and identify what needs updating.
Here are three instances that could mean you need to amend your estate plan.
New tax laws
When Congress or the Minnesota Legislature changes the tax laws, it can impact your estate plan, possibly making parts of it less than ideal compared to your goals. But you should be able to make adjustments that reduce your estate’s tax exposure and gets more of your legacy into your heirs’ hands after you pass on.
Family changes
Have you gotten divorced (or remarried) recently? Have new children or grandchildren been born? Or have you had a falling out with an heir or beneficiary, and you no longer wish to leave them part of your estate? Unless you update your estate plan accordingly, you might inadvertently include (or exclude) the wrong people. Or you could name someone as your executor who is no longer alive or capable of handling this responsibility.
Time has passed
Even if you have not experienced any major life events recently, or there have not been any important tax bills passed, you should still review your plan every few years. There might be things in it that made sense to you at the time, but you now want to change. Since you never know when your time will come, you should not put off regular reviews longer than necessary.
