When Should You Review Your Estate Planning?
Some people review their estate plans in conjunction with their overall financial plan, annually, semi-annually, or quarterly with their financial planner. For purely estate planning purposes, the general recommendation is at least every three to five years or whenever there is a significant change in your circumstances.
Here are some reasons to review your estate plan.
Your financial situation changes
Your financial situation and how you make your income is always an important factor in your estate planning.
For example, if you have recently received a large inheritance, you might consider changing your estate planning to protect your assets from creditors or to allow your beneficiaries more flexibility in how they deal with gifts you make to them.
You may decide to transfer more of your assets to charity. Estate planning lawyers like Bradley & Bray can help you make these types of changes.
Your financial situation may change for many reasons, and in many different ways, so it is worth having a conversation with us when such a change takes place.
Adding a child or change in relationship
When you have children, you should review your estate plan to ensure children are financially provided for and that you have nominated someone to care for them if you can’t.Y ou should always review your estate plan when you end a relationship or start a new relationship - it is important to update your plan or change your documents to reflect the new situation.
Marriage, Divorce, and entering into a Civil Partnership can revoke or otherwise affect your estate planning documents.
Protecting your health
Protecting your health is an important consideration when reviewing your estate planning documents. You may need to make major changes if you experience a health condition or become incapacitated. Your estate plan should include enduring Power of Attorney and directives for medical care.
You should review and update your documents if your wishes have changed or if the people named in your documents will no longer be able to carry out your wishes.
Changing beneficiary designations
Part of your estate planning should be making beneficiary designations on any financial accounts, retirement plans and life insurance policies.
These designations should be reviewed whenever you review your other estate planning documents.
New tax laws
Any review of your estate planning should take into account any new tax laws or any changes to tax laws since your original estate planning documents were signed.
Asset changes
Your estate planning may need to be reviewed if you dispose of or acquire real estate or other assets. As you change your asset portfolio, you'll want to ensure your estate plan reflects these changes. Leaving large assets out of your estate without modifying them can cause problems for your beneficiaries and the seller of the property. Look for ways to keep your estate plan up to date.
Moving Interstate
Also, your plan should be updated if ever you move out of state. Moving interstate can be a busy and stressful time. But it is also important to make sure that you update your estate planning documents as part of the process. Estate planning documents are important for ensuring that your wishes are followed after you pass away, and this becomes even more important when you move to a new state with different laws and regulations.
The legality of a Will won’t change when moving within Australia, however moving interstate is generally a good time to review its contents. Estate planning documents can vary across each state and may need adjustment, for example, an enduring power of attorney or an advance care directive.
Relationship with your Lawyer
It's a good idea to establish a relationship with a good estate planning lawyer like Bradley & Bray when creating or reviewing your estate plan to ensure you are not overlooking anything important. Get in touch with us today.
This article is general in nature and does not constitute legal advice. If you require legal advice in relation to your personal circumstances, you must formally engage our firm, or another firm to provide legal advice in relation to your matter. Bradley & Bray lawyers takes no responsibility for any use of the information provided in this article.
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