When Should You Review Your Arizona Estate Plan?
Arizona residents who create estate plans often do so to seek peace of mind. An estate plan ensures that your instructions are clear after your death and that your wishes for your property are carried out. Certain estate plan documents, such as a power of attorney, may also be used to carry out your wishes if you are still alive but unable to direct your personal affairs yourself.
Once your estate plan is in place, much of the required work is complete. However, it is important to review your estate plan from time to time and discuss it with an experienced Surprise, Arizona estate planning attorney.
When is it time to review your estate plan?
You should plan a review whenever any of the following events occurs:
- You marry, divorce, or separate.
- You have a child, whether by birth or adoption, or a child reaches age 18.
- Your health or that of your spouse changes or declines, or a spouse dies.
- The value or type of your assets changes dramatically – for instance, you buy or sell a business, you buy or sell real estate, you receive a substantial inheritance, or the value of your investments increases or decreases considerably.
- Family events cause a significant change in relationships or attitudes toward one another, or your successor trustee, guardian, or administrator moves, becomes ill, passes away, or changes his or her mind about serving on your behalf.
- Federal or state tax laws change in a way you believe may affect your estate plan.
- You plan to move to a different state.
- You change your mind about any estate-plan-related issue.