Wills are very important to the estate plan equation, and yet few people actually want to construct their will. And fewer still want to deal with their will once it is complete. There are some simple reasons for these feelings that many people share. Wills can be tricky to fully complete. They also deal with an inherently unsavory topic: our own death. It can also be tough to wrestle with the idea of giving certain people assets while others don’t receive as much.
But powering through all of these thoughts and getting a will done is critical to ensuring the protection and security of your estate plan. Once it is done, though, can you finally relax and let the will speak for itself?
Well, you certainly can do that. However, there will inevitably be life events that necessitate you going back to your will and reviewing it. Without routine reviews of your will, it could become a document that doesn’t accurately reflect the intent of your estate. Consider some of the following:
- A death in the family, or the death of one of your beneficiaries
- A newborn baby
- Divorce or marriage
- Changes to state estate plan laws
- Children or grandchildren reaching the age of 18
These are just a few of the many different events that can happen over the course of your life, and they all dramatically affect your estate. If you perform routine updates to your will, you can adequately address these events.
Source: FindLaw, “Checklist: Reasons to Update Your Will & Estate Planning Documents,” Accessed June 16, 2017
