Revisiting Your Estate Plan

If you already have an estate plan, that is a good start. But a plan that was done ten or fifteen years ago may have real gaps that are worth flagging.

Here are six things we look for when we review an existing estate plan:

1. The named agents are still the right people. Trustees, executors, powers of attorney, and healthcare agents all need to be living, capable, and still appropriate for the role. This is one of the most common issues we find, and one of the easiest to overlook.

2. The trust is actually funded (i.e., the assets were retitled into the name of the trust). A trust that was never properly funded offers almost none of the protections it was designed to provide. Real property and financial accounts need to be titled in the name of the trust to keep assets out of probate.

3. The distribution provisions still make sense. A plan that distributes assets outright to a beneficiary at age 25 may have been perfectly reasonable when the estate was modest. If assets have grown significantly, ongoing trust protection may now be worth considering.

4. There is a clear process for determining incapacity. Many older trusts are vague on this point. Without a legally workable standard, determining when a successor trustee can step in can become contested and complicated.

5. A remote contingent beneficiary is named. If every named beneficiary predeceases the grantor, assets need somewhere to go. Without a backup, the result can be unintended and messy.

6. The plan still reflects the client's life. Marriage, divorce, births, deaths, or significant changes in assets since the plan was last updated can all affect whether it still does what the client intends.

If you feel like your plan may need a review, we offer free consultations and are happy to take a look.