When To Update Your Estate Plan

All adults in Florida should have an estate plan in place. An estate plan can outline how you would like your property distributed after you pass away, name a guardian for your children, and more. Creating an estate plan is the best way to ensure you and your family are protected in the future. However, once your plan is drafted it is important that you do not just forget about it. It is important to review your estate plan periodically so you can make any necessary changes to it. Below, our Daytona Beach estate planning attorney explains when to update your plan, and the importance of doing so.

The Importance of Regularly Reviewing Your Estate Plan 

Reviewing your estate plan regularly has many benefits that extend beyond avoiding oversights or mistakes. These include:

• Preserve your legacy: After drafting your estate plan, your wishes may change regarding how you want your property distributed, the charitable causes you want to support, and who you want to act as guardian for your children.
• Legal changes: The laws regarding wills, trusts, and other estate planning components change regularly in Florida. Reviewing your plan can ensure that it is still compliant with any new legal changes.
• Avoid potential disputes: Regularly updating your estate plan allows you to help your family avoid disputes and misunderstandings, as you can leave very clear instructions.
• Willingness of agents and personal representatives: Naming people as an agent or personal representative places a big responsibility on them. Reviewing your plan regularly allows you to ensure these individuals are still willing to take on the role.

When to Review Your Estate Plan 

After understanding the benefits of reviewing your estate plan, you will likely wonder when you should review it. It is recommended that you review your plan in the following situations:

• Marital changes: Any time there is a marriage or divorce in the family, it is important to review your plan and ensure it still reflects your wishes.
• Addition of a child: When children are born or adopted into the family, reviewing your estate plan can allow you to assign guardians for them and add children as beneficiaries.
• Family conflict: Relationships in families can change and when they do, you may have to reconsider provisions in your estate plan, such as who you have named as beneficiaries, agents, and your personal representative.
• Starting a business: If you start a business after creating your estate plan, reviewing it can allow for proper succession planning and distributing ownership shares based on new circumstances.
• Relocation: If you drafted your estate plan in one state and then moved to another state, it is critical to review your plan to ensure it complies with the laws in the state you now reside.

Our Estate Planning Attorney in Daytona Beach Can Review Your Plan 

At Bundza & Rodriguez, our Daytona Beach estate planning attorney can review your plan, advise you of necessary changes, and ensure they are executed properly so your wishes are respected. Call us today at 386-252-5170 or fill out our online form to schedule a consultation and to learn more about how we can help with your case.

Source:

leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0732/0732.html