Creating an estate plan is something every adult should do sooner rather than later. This is true even if they do not have much to pass on.
Once the initial creation of the plan is done, they should set themselves a calendar reminder to review it every couple of years. When a plan is no longer up to date, it may fail to achieve what they hope and could create problems for themselves or others down the line. Here are some typical reasons that people need to update their estate plan.
A change in marital status
Marrying or divorcing someone will likely involve changing your beneficiaries. It could also alter what you own. You do not want your beneficiaries wasting time wondering where an asset destined for them in your will is when you ceded it to your ex-spouse in the divorce.
A change in who you want to fulfill roles
A thorough estate plan will name people to certain roles, such as executor, power of attorney and guardian of minor children. You may need to replace these people because they die or become unavailable, such as if they move far away. You may choose to change them because you no longer feel they are the best person for the role.
A change in those you wish to receive assets
Perhaps you never married and were planning to leave the contents of your estate to the local animal shelter when you died. Then, your neighbor had a child, whom you grew increasingly fond of over time to the point you would now like to leave some of your estate to them to help with their college education. If you do not make that change in your estate plan, it simply won’t happen.
Those are just some of the scenarios in which you might want to amend your estate plan. It’s something that is easy to forget to do. Regularly scheduling time to review your estate plan every couple of years may be the reminder you need to make and codify those changes while you still can.