Changing a Will

One reason oft given by folk to justify failing  to engage in estate planning runs something like ‘I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future’; ‘I’m not sure when I would need to change my will’

Smiles (or laughter) and Tears

Estate planning as we have discussed in an earlier post is not a death plan, but a life plan.

If it calls for smiles (or laughter) or induces tears, it might be a good time to consider revisiting your estate planning

A plan to ensure that the fruits of your blood; toil; sweat and tears are retained within your family now and for several generations hence.  Working on the principle of hoping for long fruitful and healthy life, estate planning is done such that it evolves with you, and part of the recommendations would be that the documents are updated as your life changes.  The major life changes that would warrant amendment of an estate plan include but are not limited to births; deaths and marriages; acquisition and disposal of major sources of wealth and income.  If one were unfortunate to have a marriage end, in our experience, almost no one wants his or her property to go to the ex-spouse, likewise, if parties named as beneficiaries, executors, guardians or powers of attorney died, it would be prudent to alter the documentation to reflect these events otherwise there might be unfulfilled functions or unclaimed assets, which in our experience can lead to bitter; prolonged and expensive will disputes among the survivors.

Default Planning

Of course, everyone has a default plan, which is to fail to plan – while this might appear cheaper or fulfil the testator’s superstitions, the consequences of the default estate plan is that the costs to the estate in cash and ill will are much too great, that the cost of an exploratory consultation is peanuts compared to the resultant chaos.

In sum, estate planning is life planning, so if it calls for tears or celebration, ask your estate planner if any changes need to be made.