Most people think of estate planning as something that simply must be done. But the truth is that it’s an activity that starts with an initial meeting with an estate planning attorney and should be evaluated every couple of years along with other major life events.
If you let your estate plan sit for years with no changes, it might not be carried out with what you intended as your needs evolved. This is a big reason to work directly with your estate planning attorney for further help.
Your estate plan should be flexible and adaptable based on the changing circumstances in your life and circumstances outside your control, such as state estate taxes or federal estate tax changes. Setting it and forgetting it can have catastrophic consequences for you or your heirs. Remarriage, health issues, the birth of a child and more might prompt you to update your will but there are also reasons to revisit your powers of attorney and will documents every five years.
One of the biggest reasons to work through this material at least every five years is to consider whether or not the people named as beneficiaries or playing important roles of trust need to be changed. Some of these people might have passed away, may no longer live in a close geographic proximity to you to realistically carry out responsibilities under a power of attorney or a will, or simply not be interested in serving in this role.
Set a reminder on your calendar or choose birthdays ending in a zero and a five to remind you to sit down and revisit your estate plan with a Massachusetts lawyer.
