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Serving Clients Throughout North Central Missouri

Approaching Retirement

When to Update Your Will: 8 Reasons You May Need to Revisit Your Estate Plan

February 7, 2024

Updating your will is not just a one-time event. It’s an ongoing process that ensures your estate plan remains relevant and effective. In this article, we’ll delve into the times when you should update your last will and testament and the reasons that can make it necessary. Therefore, if you’re someone who can make a difference through charity or simply want to ensure that your estate planning documents are up-to-date, read on!

Why Should You Update Your Will?

Your will is a reflection of your wishes at a particular point in time. However, as life evolves, so might your desires and circumstances. Regularly reviewing and amending your will ensures that it accurately represents your current wishes.

What Life Events Necessitate a Will Update?

Life is unpredictable, and major events can significantly impact your estate plan. Here are some common reasons:

Have You Recently Married or Divorced?

A change in marital status is a significant life event that necessitates a will update. Whether you’ve recently married or divorced, it’s essential to review your estate planning documents to ensure that they reflect your new circumstances.

Do You Have Children or Grandchildren?

The birth or adoption of children or grandchildren is a joyous occasion. It’s also a time to update your will to include them as beneficiaries or make provisions for their care.

Have You Moved to a New State?

State laws can vary significantly, and moving to a different state can have an impact on how your will is executed. If you’ve moved or are planning to move, it’s crucial to ensure that your will complies with the laws of your new state.

Changes in Your Financial Situation?

A significant increase or decrease in the value of your estate can affect your estate tax obligations. Regularly reviewing your will ensures that your assets are distributed according to your wishes.

Have You Acquired New Assets?

Whether it’s property, investments, or personal items, new acquisitions should be reflected in your will. Regular updates ensure that you have accounted for all your personal property.

Changes in Tax Law?

Tax laws can change, and these changes can impact your estate tax obligations. Staying updated ensures that your heirs won’t be burdened with unexpected taxes.

Do You Want to Change Your Executor?

The executor of your estate plays a crucial role in ensuring that your wishes are carried out. If your relationship with your current executor has changed, it may be time to appoint someone new.

Have Your Beneficiaries’ Circumstances Changed?

Life changes can also affect your beneficiaries. Regularly reviewing your will ensures that your assets are distributed in a way that best supports them.

In Conclusion:

Remember these key points:

  • Regularly review and update your will, especially after major life events.
  • Ensure that your will complies with the laws of your state.
  • Keep track of your assets and ensure that they’re accurately reflected in your will.
  • Stay updated on tax laws to protect your heirs from unexpected burdens.
  • Choose an executor you trust who is also capable of carrying out your wishes.

By keeping your will updated, you’ll have peace of mind knowing that your wishes will be honored and loved ones protected.

FAQ

What is an estate plan?

An estate plan is a set of legal documents that outlines how your assets will be managed and distributed after your death. It includes your will, power of attorney and healthcare directives.

What is a beneficiary?

A beneficiary is a person or entity who will receive your assets or benefits upon your death. They can be individuals, such as your children or grandchildren, or organizations, such as charities.

What is an executor?

An executor is the person you appoint to carry out the instructions in your will and manage your estate after your death. They will handle tasks such as paying debts, distributing assets and filing tax returns.

What is estate tax?

Estate tax is a tax imposed on the transfer of assets from a deceased person to their heirs. It is based on the value of the estate and can reduce the amount of inheritance your beneficiaries receive.

How often should I update my will?

It is recommended that you review and update your will every three to five years, or whenever there is a significant change in your life or financial circumstances.

Do I need to update my will if I have a blended family?

Yes, if you have a blended family, it is important to update your will to ensure that your assets are distributed as you intend. This may mean revising beneficiaries or making additional provisions for stepchildren.

Do I need to be an estate planning attorney to update my will?

While it is not necessary to be an estate planning attorney to update your will, it is recommended to consult with one to ensure that your changes are legally valid and properly executed.

personal injury

Can You Amend a Will or a Trust?

February 5, 2024

It’s the rare person who puts their estate plan together once and never needs to change some part of it. What is important is to understand how to make changes effectively and legally to a will or a trust so these changes are enforceable and your wishes are followed. A recent article from Coeur d’Alene/Post Falls Press, “Amendments to your estate planning documents require certain steps,” explains how an estate planning attorney ensures that your requested changes are made properly.

All too often, people come to their estate planning attorney’s office with handwritten edits and changes to the original language, thinking their notes and a signature or their initials will make the changes legitimate. This is never a good idea.

People also arrive at their attorney’s offices with handwritten addendums written on the front or back of a will or trust document, attached by a staple or paper clip after the original document has been signed. This doesn’t work either.

These approaches create problems because they don’t meet state requirements for a legally valid amendment to a will or trust.

There are two ways to make legally enforceable changes to a will. One is replacing the prior document with an entirely new will document. This new will must explicitly state in the document that all prior wills are revoked and replaced.

The second is to add a document known as a codicil to the old will to clarify exactly which part of the old document is being changed. It typically reaffirms the unchanged other terms of the old will document.

Legally enforceable changes to trusts are similarly done in one of two ways. The first is to replace the prior trust document with an entirely new trust document, although the name and creation date of the trust must remain the same and must state explicitly this is not a revocation of the trust. This is referred to as a trust restatement.

The second way to change a trust is using a trust amendment, which is similar to a codicil of a will. A trust amendment is a new document added to the existing trust document. It states which parts of the original trust document are being changed.

It’s important to speak with a local estate planning attorney about making changes to wills or trusts because each state has its own technical requirements for a will codicil or trust amendment/restatement, which must be followed so the changes will be legally effective.

Just writing on the existing pages of a will or trust never meets the requirements but certainly ensures that there will be major post-death disputes among family members and interested parties. An estate planning attorney can help with any modifications, whether they are large or small, to your will or trust.

Reference: Coeur d’Alene/Post Falls Press (Oct. 25, 2023) “Amendments to your estate planning documents require certain steps”

Retirement Planning

When Should I Update My Estate Plan?

April 7, 2022

Estate planning documents, including wills, trusts, power of attorney and related documents, are designed to reflect life, which inevitably includes a steady stream of changes. Tax laws change, as do families and relationships. A recent article from The Press-Enterprise titled “Avoid probate and audit an estate plan regularly” recommends a review with your estate planning attorney every three to five years. A lot happens in three to five years, including national elections and federal tax legislation.

Start by considering the people you have named to serve after you are incapacitated or after death, including your executor, guardian for minor children, trustee, power of attorney, healthcare proxy and successor trustee. Do you still want those people in their respective roles? Are they still willing to act on your behalf? If they have moved away or have died, you will need to identify new people and update your estate plan.

Has your estate plan stayed current? Some attorneys take a walk down memory lane when they review estate plans, as planning strategies change over the years, reflecting tax laws and social expectations. An old trust might have a provision requiring a division of the trust into two shares at the first spouse’s death. This was done so both spouses’ estate tax exemptions were used. However, the law changed in 2011 and now the surviving spouse automatically preserves the deceased spouses’ estate tax exemption for later use. Dividing the assets into two separate trusts is no longer necessary.

Depending upon your situation, there may be reasons to retain this or other out-of-date provisions.  However, you will not know until you review the documents with an experienced estate planning attorney.

Do your trusts accomplish your current goals? If your trusts were created to protect a spendthrift heir who has now become a model fiscal citizen, you may want to make changes. If you have left your assets outright to beneficiaries and one has entered into a questionable marriage, it is time to protect your beneficiary by having a trust created.

Beneficiary designations should be reviewed every time an estate plan is reviewed. It is likely that you own several assets controlled by beneficiary designations. These may include annuities, life insurance, IRAs, Roth IRAs, investment accounts and many other assets. The beneficiary designation always supersedes the will. Estate planning attorneys, insurance agents and financial advisers see this go wrong all the time.

No matter what your will says, if the name on the beneficiary designation is alive, they will receive the asset. It does not matter if you have not spoken to them in twenty years, or the divorce was ten years ago. This issue is not just about keeping your ex’s hands out of your estate. Here is a good example: a spouse names a now-deceased husband as the beneficiary of an IRA. No contingent beneficiary was named, and no new beneficiary form was updated after the husband died. When the second spouse dies, the default beneficiary of the IRA, worth around $500,000, is the estate. Instead of being distributed directly to a beneficiary, the funds are now part of the probate estate. The IRA will end up in the living trust through a pour-over will stating “I leave everything to my trust.” A simple update could have avoided legal fees, executor fees and delays.

Your estate plan is only as good as its last review. Getting comfortable with the concept of reviewing it every three to five years will protect your goals and your family.

Reference: The Press-Enterprise (Feb. 6, 2022) “Avoid probate and audit an estate plan regularly”

 

personal injury

Why Is Estate Planning Review Important?

March 31, 2022

Maybe your estate plan was created when you were single, and there have been some significant changes in your life. Perhaps you got married or divorced.

You also may now be on better terms with children with whom you were once estranged.

Tax and estate laws can also change over time, requiring further updates to your planning documents.

WMUR’s recent article entitled “The ‘final’ estate-planning step” reminds us that change is a constant thing. With that in mind, here are some key indicators that a review is in order.

  • The value of your estate has changed dramatically
  • You or your spouse changed jobs
  • Changes to your income level or income needs
  • You are retiring and no longer working
  • There is a divorce or marriage in your family
  • There is a new child or grandchild
  • There is a death in the family
  • You (or a close family member) have become ill or incapacitated
  • Your parents have become dependent on you
  • You have formed, purchased, or sold a business;
  • You make significant financial transactions, such as substantial gifts, borrowing or lending money, or purchasing, leasing, or selling assets or investments
  • You have moved
  • You have purchased a vacation home or other property in another state
  • A designated trustee, executor, or guardian dies or changes his or her mind about serving; and
  • You are making changes in your insurance coverage.

Reference: WMUR (Feb. 3, 2022) “The ‘final’ estate-planning step”

 

Retirement Planning

Reviewing Estate Plans Matters

July 22, 2021

If your estate plan or your parent’s estate plan hasn’t been reviewed in the last four years—or the last forty years—it’s time for an estate plan check-up—sooner, not later. Besides the potential for costing a lot to correct, says a recent article in Forbes entitled “5 Reasons To Have Your Parents’ Estate Plan Reviewed,” the documents may no longer work to achieve your parent’s wishes.

Rather than fix a messy situation after death, have an experienced estate planning attorney review the documents now. Here’s why.

Stale documents are anathema to financial institutions. If a power of attorney is more than twenty years old, don’t expect it to be received well by a bank or brokerage house. The financial institution will probably want to get an affidavit from the attorney who originally created the document to attest to its validity. Start with a hunt to find said attorney, and then hope that nothing occurs between the time that you request the affidavit and the time it arrives. For one client, the unexpected death of a parent during this process created all kinds of headaches. A regular review and refresh of estate documents would have prevented this issue.

State laws change. Changes to state laws change how estates are handled. They may be positive changes that could benefit your parents and your family. Let’s say your mother’s will leaves all of the contents of her home to numerous people. Locating all of these people becomes costly, especially if the will needs to be probated. Many states now allow for a separate document that lets personal items be disposed of, without being part of the probated estate. However, if the will has not been reviewed in ten or twenty years, you won’t know about this option.

Languages in estate planning documents change. In addition to changes in the law, there are changes to language that may have a big impact on the estate. Many attorneys have changed the language they use for trusts based on the SECURE Act. If your parent has a retirement account payable to a trust, it is critical that this language be modified, so that it complies with the new law. Lacking these updates, your parent’s estate may be subject to an increase in taxes, fees, or penalties.

Estate laws change over time. Recent years have seen major changes to estate law, from the aforementioned SECURE Act to changes in federal exclusions and gift taxes. Is your parent’s estate plan (or yours) in compliance with the new laws? If assets have changed since the last estate plan was done, there may be tax law changes to be incorporated. Are there enough assets available to pay the taxes from the estate or the trusts? If many accounts pass by beneficiary designation, getting beneficiaries to come up with the cash to pay the tax bill may be problematic.

The decedent’s wishes may not be followed, if documents are not updated. Here’s an example. A man came to an estate planning attorney’s office with his father’s will, which had not been updated. His father died, having been predeceased by the father’s sister. The man was the only living child. He and his father had a mutual understanding that the son would inherit the entire estate on the death of his father. However, his father’s sister had also died, and the will stated that her children would receive the sister’s share. The man had to share his inheritance with estranged nieces and nephews. Had the will been reviewed with an attorney, this mishap could have been prevented very easily.

Reference: Forbes (May 25, 2021) “5 Reasons To Have Your Parents’ Estate Plan Reviewed”

 

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