Should I Update My Estate Plan?

Estate plans are not set in stone. Wills, powers of attorney, health care powers of attorney, and living wills are all documents that can be modified and updated throughout the years. When are some good times to update your estate documents?

Just got married

Now is a good time to update your estate plan. You will probably want to add your spouse to your documents. It is also a good time to talk to your spouse about if they are comfortable being the administrator of your estate if something happens to you as well as if they are a good choice for your power of attorney and/or health care power of attorney. You also may want to update any accounts you have to include your spouse as the beneficiary

Had a child

Like when you got married, if you have a child, you will want to update your estate plan to include this child. Whether the child is your first child or not, you want your Will to reflect your growing family.

Divorced or separated

You don’t always update your estate plan because something positive happened. Sometimes, like if you got a divorce, there are negative reasons to update your estate plan. If you have gotten divorced and your ex-spouse is named in your will or as your power of attorney, it may lead to uncomfortable situations in the future.

Have had a birth or death in your family

We mentioned having a child as a reason to update your estate plan, but other births can also be a good time to revisit your Will. Perhaps you have had your first grandchild or a sibling had a child and you want to make sure that person is taken care of in your will. Similarly, if someone named in your estate plan dies, you would want to update then as well. You might have a parent or older relative listed as a beneficiary or as your power of attorney and would want to make sure that you update those documents if something were to happen to the person named in them.