The Importance of Regularly Reviewing Your Estate Plan

If you have an estate plan, it is important that you review it on a regular basis. This is because you need to be sure that your beneficiary designations reflect your wishes and that your will and trust are properly structured. If you don’t have an estate plan, it may be a good idea to create one today as dying without a will could leave you at the mercy of intestacy laws.

Review Your Estate Plan After a Change in Family Status

If you have a child, you will want to update your will to provide a guardian in the event that you pass away. If you get married for the second or third time, you will want to protect your assets with a trust or change the terms of one that already exists. After a divorce, be sure to update beneficiary designations and revoke any powers of attorney that a former spouse may have had.

Review Your Plan Prior to a Planned Medical Procedure

There is a chance that a surgery could be botched or otherwise lead to complications that leave you physically or mentally incapacitated. Without the proper health care proxy and power of attorney documents, you might not receive the care or lack of care that you desire. Therefore, be sure to create or review those documents prior to the procedure out of an abundance of caution.

Review Your Plan Every Two Years

At a minimum, you should review an estate plan with an estate planning attorney in Las Vegas every two years. This allows you to take into account any changes to the tax law or any other laws that could render some or all of your estate plan obsolete. It also reduces the odds that you have overlooked anything such as not titling assets correctly.