An estate plan is an essential part of helping your loved ones wrap up your affairs while passing on your legacy. The assets you leave for your loved ones can help them move forward with the life you imagined for them.
An important part of a thorough estate plan is keeping it updated. Some life changes could substantially impact your estate plan, so it is essential to know when to adjust your plan.
These are some of the most critical times to update your estate plan.
Moving to another state
Moving can be an exciting time, especially for those seeking a more relaxed lifestyle or an opportunity to live closer to family and friends. Since most laws that govern estate planning are made at the state level, moving is also an important time to check that your estate plan is still valid.
In Florida, for example, oral wills and holographic wills are not recognized as valid. If you pass away without updating your estate plan, your loved ones could run into delays in the probate process, or the probate court may consider the will invalid altogether.
Change in beneficiaries
Families change. Whether your family is growing, shrinking or a little of both, when there are changes in the beneficiaries for your will, it is a critical time to make some updates.
Before you make changes, consider how the adjustments will impact the other beneficiaries. You may need to talk to your loved ones about the changes you plan to make so that there are no challenges to the will’s validity later on.
It is important to talk to an experienced estate planning attorney about changing your estate plan. A skilled professional can help you make the right adjustments for the changes in your life.
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