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Is It Time To Review Your Estate Plan?

Estate planning is more than just writing a Will.  It is an ongoing discussion about and planning for the transfer of your and your family’s assets during life and after your death. The documents created are the mechanisms used to assure your assets transfer as planned. They may include: wills, revocable trusts, prenuptial or postnuptial agreements; beneficiary designation forms on retirement plans and life insurance; gifts to family or others; charitable giving; irrevocable trusts; special needs trusts, general powers of attorney (GPOA); health care powers of attorney (HCPOA); living wills and advanced health care directives; joint ownership; life estates; Limited Partnerships and other business entities.

Once in place, an estate plan needs to be reviewed periodically to make sure it still addresses your current realities and needs. At times all you will need is a short checkup. Other times a complete overhaul will be needed.   Here is a list of twenty-one events that trigger the need to review your estate plan with your lawyer.

Here Are Twenty-One Events That Should Trigger a Review: 

When What Is Needed Why
Immediately Basic estate plan Everyone needs a basic coordinated estate plan including a Will, GPOA, HCPOA and beneficiary designations.
Every 3 -5 years General check up Laws change; people change; situations change; a checkup makes sure your estate plan is still working for you.
Changing Jobs/First job Review new retirement plan and life insurance beneficiary designations To confirm that the retirement and life insurance beneficiaries for your new accounts coordinate with your estate plan.
Change state of domicile General checkup to a complete revision To review your estate planning documents and make any necessary changes to make sure they are appropriate under the law of your new domicile.
Buying out of state property Review options for owning property before signing an agreement of sale To prevent an ill-chosen form of ownership to subject real estate to inheritance tax when it would have otherwise been exempt.
Significant change in assets General checkup To engage in more sophisticated estate planning or gifting or to simplify your estate plan.
Contemplating Marriage Prenuptial Agreement To understand the statutory rights you and your future spouse will acquire in each other’s assets by virtue of your marriage. If appropriate, these rights can be altered by using a prenuptial agreement.
Marriage Total revision of estate planning documents To provide for your new spouse and to determine  his/her role in your estate plan.
Have your first child Include a testamentary trust for children To affirmatively include child/children in your estate plan and to establish trusts for minors to avoid a court ordered guardianship and to nominate a guardian for your children.
Having another child General checkup To make sure your estate plan, including beneficiary designations, provide for your new addition.
When your child turns 18 years old General Power of Attorney (GPOA); Health Care Power of Attorney (HCPOA); To allow you to have access to your child’s vital health records or to authorize you to make decisions on their behalf, in the event your child is incapacitated, even temporarily.  Under the law, your child is an adult when he or she turns 18 and has certain privacy rights and independence.  In the absence of a HCPOA or GPOA (with health care provisions), you’ll likely be unable to act on his/her behalf without getting court authority to do so.
Child/grandchild/ beneficiary with special needs Revise estate plan to include a special needs trust To provide that any distribution to the child is held in a third party Special Needs trust which can provide significant benefits for the child without jeopardizing government aid.
Significant change in your or your spouse’s health Review and revise documents, asset titling and beneficiary designations To change your estate plan provisions to address your spouse’s future needs and to make provisions for asset management and bill paying in the event of your diminished capacity.
Divorce Total revision of estate plan To make sure your ex does not inadvertently remain a beneficiary of your estate and to coordinate any mandatory provisions from your property settlement agreement.
Death of a spouse Estate Administration and update estate plan To preserve your deceased spouse’s unused federal exemption; to retitle assets and review/revise beneficiary designations; to name alternate fiduciaries if needed.
Finding the love of your life (no marriage) Modify estate planning document To provide your love a testamentary gift or lifetime care in the event you become incapacitated, or name them as a surrogate in your HCPOA or GPOA.
Death of a person named as a Fiduciary (executor, trustee, agent, etc.) General checkup To make sure you have alternate executors or trustees named, if they were named to those roles. You will also want to confirm that any bequest made to a deceased beneficiary will be distributed as you intend.
Inheritance Post mortem estate planning To shift some of your inheritance to your children or grandchildren without incurring gift tax or inheritance tax.
Retirement General checkup with emphasis on retirement plan beneficiary designations To review pension and annuity elections, update beneficiary designations when moving from an employer’s retirement plan to a new IRA.
Before/after making a disproportionate gift in favor of one child over another    Memorialize the    transaction
in writing		 To memorialize it as a gift (or as an advancement) to limit family disharmony after death.
Before turning 70 ½ Required Minimum Distributions from IRAs (RMD) and Charitable Giving To discuss consolidation of retirement assets, requirement for taking RMDs from retirement accounts and tax advantageous options available for charitable giving using your RMD.


Stephanie Pahides Kalogredis is an attorney at Lamb McErlane PC in its West Chester location. She concentrates her practice in Estate Planning and Estate and Trust Administration and Wealth Transfer and Succession Planning. 610-701-4433 / skalogredis@lambmcerlane.com.

 

This publication is for general information and should not be construed as legal advice on any subject matter.

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