Attorney Helping in Jacksonville Old Estate Planning Reviews

estate plan If you were to pull out your old estate plan, how relevant would it be today? When was the last time you looked at it? If you cannot remember, now is the time to review.

Most people are surprised to find that their estate plan is no longer relevant. Sometimes, the revelation comes too late. While creating an estate plan is critical, updating it and frequently reviewing it is just as important.

When reviewing your old estate plan, there are a few items to check first before assuming that it is ready to go.

Checklist for Reviewing Your Old Estate Plan

It does not matter if you created that estate plan six months ago, or 10 years ago – now is the time to review it. While doing so, make sure to consider the following:

  • The personal effects you have in your pour-over will. Your personal effects are traditionally distributed based on the terms of your will. If you have a pour-over will, those items will also be subject to probate. Unfortunately, a lot of these things that you expect to flow over disappear before your estate goes to probate naturally. Therefore, if you have specific assets you want to be given to someone, now is the time to update your will with a specific name of the item and the recipient.
  • Distributing evenly to all beneficiaries. At the time you created your first will, you may have distributed all of the assets evenly to all recipients. However, now that time has passed, you know that your children have grandchildren or one beneficiary no longer is around. Review the recipients and how much of your estate is given them. Then, change what is no longer relevant.
  • Consider your tax planning. Did you include any tax plans in your original estate? If so, they are most likely outdated. Tax law and the tax amounts are constantly changing; therefore, to protect your loved ones from taxation, you will want to have an attorney review your estate for accuracy. Also, if the original will does not include tax preparation, you may want to add that in.
  • Powers of attorney without retirement information. Once you have funded all your assets into a Revocable Living Trust, your power of attorney is no longer needed. However, traditional retirement accounts cannot be funded by a trust, so you need a power of attorney with the proper retirement account listed on it.
  • Outdated advance medical directives. Who is listed on your medical directive? If you are like most, you are using an outdated form and possibly have listed a person who no longer applies. If you have named someone who has moved away or whom you no longer wish to make medical decisions on your behalf, you may want to consider changing that document.

Speak with an Estate Planning Attorney in Jacksonville About Your Old Will

Whether you have an old will or want to have a complete estate plan created, the team at Beller Law, P.L. can assist you. Contact our law offices today to explore your options by calling us at 904-288-4414 or requesting more information online.