Your estate plan should constantly evolve to keep up with and reflect your own life. Unfortunately, many people who create estate plans then proceed to let them sit for years at a time, allowing them to grow outdated and aged.
But how exactly can you find the perfect time to update your plan? Do you need to abide by certain guidelines or laws? If not, how do you pick a time for your review?
Why should you streamline your estate plan?
Forbes examines ways in which you can streamline your estate plan update. In doing so, you can make tackling a review a much less overwhelming task to handle. The ease of a review is important for several reasons and experts suggest you do an estate plan review once every three years. This means you cannot put it off indefinitely just because you do not wish to spend time or effort on it.
When should you review?
If you face major changes in your life, you do not need to wait for three years to pass. Instead, you can review and update your plan immediately. These major changes often revolve around fluid aspects of your life, such as the people in it or your financial status over time. You will need to take a look at your will, trusts and beneficiaries in such a situation.
If you created your estate plan earlier but have yet to review it, then you should do so quickly. Many things may have changed over this period of time, rendering your plan ineffectual and outdated. Estate plans contain many details and you would likely struggle to remember all of them after years. Some may no longer hold any application to your current life, which is one of many reasons why you may wish to review.