When Should You Review Your Estate Plan?

Estate planning is all about control – your control. If you don’t take timely steps to plan, you may not like the outcome.

As a rule-of-thumb, it’s probably best to review your estate plan every five years to see if there are any changes that should be made or that you desire to have made.

Some of the specific triggers for a review are as follows:

- Tax laws have changed.

- You are moving to another state.

- You are spending summers in one state and winters in another.

- You are getting married or divorced.

- You are getting married for the second time.

- Your spouse has died or is experiencing incapacity issues.

- Your own potential for age-related mental incapacity issues looms larger.

- Your physical health outlook has changed.

- You are retiring.

- You have received an inheritance.

- You have won the lottery.

- Your income potential has changed significantly.

- The value of your assets has changed significantly.

- Your desires for the distribution of your assets at death have changed.

- You have changed your mind about who should be your personal representative (Will), trustee (Trust), health care agent (Health Care Directive) or attorney-in-fact (Durable Power of Attorney).

- Your elderly parents or adult children are moving in with you.

- You want to name or change beneficiaries, or name additional beneficiaries, such as charitable organizations.

- You have a child or grandchild with special needs.

- You have started a business.

- You need to develop a succession plan for your business.

A periodic review of your estate plan can reveal issues that need to be resolved or give you peace of mind that everything is in order.

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Disclaimer: This Blog is for informational purposes only and is not to be construed as legal advice. If you have questions, please seek the advice of an attorney.  An attorney-client relationship is not formed by reading this Blog. If you are interested in Wittenburg Law’s representation of you, you must contact Wittenburg Law for a determination of whether your matter is one for which Wittenburg Law is willing and able to accept representation of you.

Bonnie Wittenburg, Wittenburg Law Office, PLLC, 601 Carlson Parkway, Suite 1050, Minnetonka, MN 55305  952-649-9771  www.bwittenburglaw.com  bonnie@bwittenburglaw.com