Estate planning: a quick reminder

I hope this message finds you well. I often tell people in my network the biggest estate planning mistake they can make is to be among the 67% of Americans who don’t have one. But this big mistake is followed by a close second: creating an estate plan and thinking you’re then set for life. 

Typically, your estate plan should be reviewed every three to five years or after major life events. Keep in mind: the world changes and so does your world over the course of a lifetime, and it is essential that your estate plan reflects those changes.

Here are a few types of changes that make an estate plan review all the more important:

1. Life Events – Life events like births, deaths, or divorces may substantially change your wishes, warranting changes ranging from simple updates on beneficiaries to more complex shifts to our overall strategy. 
2. New Laws or Changes to Existing Laws – Your estate plan is based on the most up-to-date knowledge available at the time of creation or last review, but it cannot account for legislative changes that have not yet been put into motion. For example, if the increased estate tax exemption amount is sunsetted in 2026 as currently outlined, this could have significant effects on those with more sizable estates. 
3. New Technologies or Other Societal Changes – Your estate plan cannot account for what does not yet exist. For example, in our digital age, it’s important to include online assets like social media, emails, and digital files in your estate plan. Fifteen years ago, some of these technologies did not exist. The digital landscape is constantly evolving, as are the laws and institutional resources surrounding it. 

Ultimately, when our team creates or updates an estate plan, we’re dedicated to making it as simple and straightforward for clients as possible. So we proactively consider all of the above elements once the process begins – and do outreach like this to share important changes, reminders, and insights. 

But that first step of reaching out to create or update an estate plan is up to you. With that in mind, if you would like to discuss an estate planning consultation, I encourage you to respond to this email or give the office a call.  We’ll take care of the rest!