14 Reasons You Need to Update Your North Fort Myers will
Estate planning documents like wills do not expire but may become out-of-date and obsolete if they aren’t reviewed regularly. Even though you may have not experienced significant changes in your life recently, your North Fort Myers estate planning attorney recommends going over your will every year to guarantee the will still reflects accurate instructions regarding your estate.
When Should You Update Your Will?
1. Beneficiaries named in your will have died.
2. You want “new” people (births, adoptions, children from son/daughter marriage) included in your will.
3. You have gotten married or divorced.
4. New state laws have been established regarding estate planning rules and regulations.
5. Changes have occurred regarding trustees, representatives or guardians.
6. Your children are 18 years old or have been emancipated.
7. You have experienced a significant decrease or increase in your estate’s value
8. You have acquired or lost/given away/sold a valuable asset (antiques, gold, paintings, etc).
9. You have a 401K, an IRA or another qualified plan requiring you start taking distributions when you are 70 1/2 years old.
10. You have decided you want to leave some of your assets to a charitable organization.
11. You want to create a new will superseding your old will.
12. You purchased real estate (house, business, land).
13. You have made substantial adjustments to an investment portfolio.
14. You have been diagnosed with progressive or chronic disease that may negatively impact your health in the near future.
These are not all the reasons why you should update your will but they are the most common reasons people with wills seek to change or even rewrite their will.
Living trusts and wills are both legal methods of transferring assets to the people you want to have those assets on your passing. If you don’t have a will or would like to update your will, contact The Mattar Firm today to schedule an appointment with an estate planning attorney.