Unfortunately, the majority of adults living in the United States currently do not have an estate plan in place.
People often put off estate planning to be considered at some far-off, future time as they simply don’t want to think about it, or don’t think an estate plan is necessary yet. Some people assume estate planning begins when they retire. Others want to have their personal and professional lives fully settled before they establish estate planning paperwork.
The problem with this common approach is that once can never know when they will need an estate plan.
Estate planning early is usually the best option for those with personal resources, dependent family members or personal preferences regarding their medical care.
That being said, those who have estate plans are not necessarily done with the process. They typically should review and update their paperwork every few years as their financial, familial, and health circumstances change.
Outdated documents are vulnerable to challenges
Perhaps the most compelling reason to routinely review and revise an estate plan is the risk of other people challenging the documents in Surrogate’s Court. Spouses, children and other people who expect to inherit from an estate may take issue with terms included in old and outdated documents.
They could use outdated documents – which include information about old assets or family members and/or relationships – to support a will contest.
People can even claim that their exclusion from the documents as beneficiaries was the result of outdated instructions rather than an intentional choice.
Those who make a point of consistently updating their documents can reduce the likelihood of family members and other potential beneficiaries contesting their estate plans in Surrogate’s Court.
Updates improve the protections provided
Another reason people need to update and modify estate plans is to ensure they have adequate support for themselves and their loved ones. People may want to add durable powers of attorney as they prepare for retirement or standard powers of attorney when facing medical challenges. They may need to add guardian designations after they have children, or leave instructions for the support of other immediate family members.
Frequently, estate plan updates and revisions are necessary whenever people have significant changes to their economic circumstances or families. Having children or grandchildren, marrying, getting divorced, acquiring property, starting a business and retiring are all scenarios in which reviewing and updating an estate plan might be beneficial.
Committing to maintaining an accurate estate plan can help provide an individual with lasting peace of mind. Estate plans help protect people in an emergency and may allow them to leave a meaningful legacy for their loved ones, if they are accurate and complete at the time of a testator’s death.