What changes can trigger an estate plan review?
Key takeaway
Estate plans can need review when family, health, finances, assets, or business circumstances change. For owners of businesses, real estate, and private investments, changes such as a birth, death, marriage, divorce, or shift in asset flows can affect the people and property addressed in a plan. Some sources describe periodic review, while others point to material life or financial changes as triggers.
Family changes can affect the plan
Births, deaths, marriages, and divorces are family changes associated with estate plan review. A new child or grandchild can alter a farm succession plan, and a death in the family can also change succession goals.
Changes to trustees or asset flows can affect stakeholders in a family plan. Practitioners describe follow-up family meetings after material changes of this kind.
Health and financial changes matter
Changes in health and finances can prompt a review. Estate planning practitioners also describe changes in assets and family history as reasons circumstances may differ from those addressed in existing documents.
A significant change in net worth is another review trigger described by practitioners. For a business or property owner, shifts in assets can change the financial circumstances reflected in a plan.
Business and legal circumstances can shift
Farm families face changes tied to the business, the family, and laws that can make revisiting an estate plan important. Farm succession planning practitioners describe reevaluation when family changes alter goals and plans.
Legal circumstances can change, and estate planning documents cannot anticipate every contingency, according to practitioners. Changes affecting a business or the family can therefore make an existing plan less reflective of current circumstances.
Personal milestones and digital assets also matter
Turning eighteen, finishing school, relocation, and changes in digital assets are also described as possible review triggers. Practitioners say digital assets change over time, so documents addressing them may need ongoing review.
Review intervals vary across the sources. Recommendations range from every year to every five years, while other practitioners ty review to a significant life event or material change.