Highly Effective Criminal Defense, Real Estate And Estate Planning
Attorney Bryan E. Cameron

How to keep your estate plan up to date

On Behalf of | Dec 31, 2020 | blog, Uncategorized

Creating an estate plan is one of the most important things a person in New York can do to protect their assets and their family once they’ve passed on. However, the work is not done once an estate plan has been crafted with an attorney’s help. Throughout a person’s life, they should ensure that their estate plan is up to date. The following includes a few areas of your estate plan that you may need to update at some point.

Updating children inheritance and rules

It is often the case that a person crafting their estate plan does so at a time when their children are minors. During estate planning, certain items must be included or excluded if the estate’s heirs are minors. When your children are grown, you can update your plan. For example, an update on the distribution of assets may now be re-visited as you can now consult with your adult children about their wants.

Updating due to tax changes

It’s likely that during your initial estate planning, a different tax rate was in the books. For example, if your plan was created before 2018, you would have noticed that the estate tax exemption was only at $1 million. Today, that tax exemption is now at $5.6 million.

Relationships change throughout time

The relationship with that brother or cousin you entrusted with the role of a beneficiary may have changed since you first crafted your estate plan. Thus, it is important to re-visit and update your estate plan. The reality of the matter is that you may end up having someone preside over your estate with whom you no longer see eye-to-eye.

In some cases, you may have issues updating your estate plan. It is important to consult with an attorney to avoid making common legal mistakes and putting your estate in jeopardy once it is ready to be distributed among your heirs.

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