What is an Estate Planning Review?
An estate planning review involves tasks such as assessing your trust, will, and beneficiaries so that you protect your assets and ensure all your end-of-life wishes are fulfilled. You can make changes to these documents should they be required.
Read the rest of this article to explore the estate planning review process in greater detail, how to complete it, and why you should consult with a lawyer for legal guidance throughout the process.
What’s Involved in an Estate Planning Review?
An estate planning review usually includes tasks such as the following:
- Updating your assets. This involves reviewing your personal assets, such as if you’ve acquired new ones you’d like to leave to a beneficiary.
- Reviewing your list of beneficiaries. You should go through all your retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and other documents to check that you’re happy with your beneficiary lists.
- Checking legal compliance. All documents, such as wills, need to be compliant with relevant estate and tax laws.
What Estate Planning Documents Should Be Reviewed?
There are various estate-planning documents that require a review. Here’s a rundown of some of the most essential.
- Wills. Your will determines how your assets will be shared with loved ones after your passing. An estate planning review requires you to check that all beneficiaries are accurate and you’ve updated your asset list. Life events such as marriage or divorce might require you to update your will so you avoid including outdated information in it.
- Trust agreements. Since a trust manages your assets, it can sometimes result in tax benefits. You want to check your trust agreements in detail so that all beneficiaries and trustees are aligned with your intentions. As with a will, law changes or life events might trigger a review of these documents.
- Power of attorney. A power of attorney is someone who manages your finances if you’re unable to do so. Reviewing this will give you the confidence that you’re still happy with the person you’ve appointed for the task.
- Healthcare directives. For medical and end-of-life decisions, you’ll want to ensure your wishes and values are respected.
- Letter of intent. This estate-planning document includes your personal wishes, such as whether or not you want to have a funeral and what should happen with your personal belongings. It’s crucial to review and update it regularly so that your loved ones know your expectations.
- Guardianship designation. This is an important document to review if you have minor children, as it specifies the guardians who will look after them should you pass. If you’ve experienced significant life events or changes in your relationships, you’ll want to update its information.
- Retirement plans. You’ll want to check that all beneficiaries listed are current and aligned with your will and trust. This serves to avoid conflicts or tax issues.
- Business succession plans. If you own a business, review your business succession plan so that your company can be transferred smoothly to someone else. Make sure that you’re happy with who you’ve assigned to take over the company and that everything is in order to prevent operational disruptions.
When Should You Conduct an Estate Planning Review?
An estate planning review should be conducted regularly, or when something significant happens to you. Examples of times when it’s smart to review your estate plans include the following:
- You’ve experienced a big life change. This can include getting married or divorced, or if one of your beneficiaries have died.
- Your financial situation has changed. For example, if you’ve experienced a big change in your income that affects asset acquisition, this might make you want to adjust your will and other documents.
- You’ve moved to a different state or country. This could affect your estate planning documents, such as in terms of laws, regulations, and taxes.
Do You Need a Lawyer for an Estate Planning Review?
Although you don’t always need to hire a lawyer to review your estate plans, they can help you to avoid costly mistakes. Since estate planning involves a range of documents, from wills and trusts to tax strategies, you want to ensure that they are aligned and accurate.
A lawyer can help you with this, as well as other tasks, such as the following:
- A lawyer is skilled at spotting any contradictory information between various documents or even your choices that could trigger disputes or financial costs.
- Since laws vary in different regions and change every now and then, a lawyer will confirm that your estate planning is legally sound. It will give you peace of mind that your future decisions won’t cause any problems for beneficiaries.
- Lawyers can help you navigate complications to your estate plan, such as if you own multiple properties in different regions.
- They will establish clear, legal documents that honor your wishes and reduce uncertainty.
- If you own a business, a lawyer will help you ensure a smooth ownership transfer to the new owner.
- Lawyers can draft any new estate planning documents you need to make them legal, transparent, and easy to understand.
Where Can You Find a Lawyer for an Estate Planning Review?
If you’d like to work with a lawyer for an estate planning review, you can find a professional lawyer on platforms such as ContractsCounsel, one of the largest online legal marketplaces where clients can connect with vetted lawyers for their legal requirements.
You can post a request on the ContractsCounsel platform for an estate planning review from the comfort of your home. Instead of trying to find lawyers, you’ll receive proposals from lawyers who have experience and skill in helping clients with document reviews. You can compare different attorneys on the platform according to factors such as their education, expertise, and client reviews for previous projects completed on the platform.
The process is easy because you’ll find all the data you need to make an informed choice on the platform. This saves you time and money, and streamlines the project so you can achieve a professional, thorough estate planning review.
