REASONS TO UPDATE YOUR ESTATE PLAN

Many people think that once they have put together their legal documents these documents will protect them forever. That may not be the case. Estate planning is an ongoing process. You must not only develop and implement a plan that reflects your current financial and family situation; you must also constantly review your current plan to ensure it fits in with any changes in your life and circumstances.

With the extensive changes under the 2001 tax act and the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, and the probability that more changes will occur in this decade, reviewing your estate plan regularly is now more critical than ever.

Family changes. Marriages, divorces, births, adoptions, and deaths can all lead to the need for estate plan modifications.

Increases or Decreases in your income or net worth. What may have been an appropriate estate plan when your income and net worth were much higher or lower may no longer be effective today.

Geographic moves. Different states have different estate planning regulations. Any time you move from one state to another, you should review your estate plan.

New health-related conditions. A child may develop special needs due to physical or mental limitations, or a surviving spouse's ability to earn a living may change because of a disability.

Your present Estate Plan was implemented more than three years ago. Many financial institutions will not honor your Power of Attorney documents if they were signed a long time ago. They may consider them to be “stale.”

Laws change. The current validity of your documents may have been affected by recent changes in the law; make sure your Estate Plan still complies with the laws of today.

Such circumstances often require an estate plan update.