Should Update Your Will or Trust?
Have you waited too many years to update your Will or Trust? How do you know if it’s time for an update? Here are a few changes that may warrant updating your Will or Trust.

     From time to time, it may be necessary to update your Will or Trust due to changes in your family or financial status. Your Will or Trust can be easily amended, and whether or not major changes have occurred in your life, you should generally have your Will or Trust reviewed at least every few years to ensure that its provisions accurately reflect your wishes.

     Many people believe that they may simply cross out portions of their Will or Trust, or make handwritten alterations when circumstances change. However, this will only invalidate the original document. To maintain the validity of your Will or Trust documents any changes to them should be done by drafting a formal amendment to be signed and witnessed in the same manner as your original documents.

     Family Changes may prompt the need to amend your Will or Trust. Such changes include the death of a spouse, a child or other beneficiaries named in your Will or Trust; or if there is a birth in the family; or if you are divorced or separated; or if you are newly married; or if a child has reached the age majority (18); or if you adopt a child or grandchild. The effects of these types of changes in your family status may even invalidate your Will or Trust, or some portion of it. For example, if you marry, the terms of your Will or Trust becomes inaccurate and obsolete because there is no provision for your new spouse. If you divorce, although the Will or Trust may still be valid, you may wish to delete any provision benefiting your former spouse or to name someone else to act as your personal representative or trustee.

     Financial Changes may affect your need to amend your Will or Trust. These changes include substantial increases in the size of your estate such as the receipt of an inheritance; or a substantial decrease in the size of you estate; or gifts over the $11,000 annual exclusion to any person; or law suits and/or judgments against you; or depletion of a specific gift you had previously left in your Will or Trust; or a change in financial responsibility of a child or grandchild; or acquisition or disposition of a business partnership or corporation.

     Health Changes that may affect the need to amend your Will or Trust might be a serious illness or deterioration of health of either spouse; or a serious illness of a child or grandchild who is a beneficiary of your Will or Trust; or the disability of a child or other beneficiary.

     Other Changes that may prompt you to amend your Will or Trust include a move to another state; or the death or incapacity of an executor or successor trustee; or a change in your relationship with your executor or trustee; or changes in laws that affect the intent of your Will or Trust such as the recent changes in the tax rules; or the expiration of your Power of Attorney.

     These are simply a few of the reasons you should consider having your Will or Trust reviewed, and updated if necessary. If you do not already have a Will or a Trust, you should be thinking about preparing one. If you have a Will or Trust it is essential to have it reviewed or updated periodically to make sure it still expresses your wishes.

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