As you gather important documents and prepare to square up financially this year with Uncle Sam, why not give a quick ‘tax-time’ time audit to your estate plan, too?
With your financial information handy, it’s easy to gauge just how much your personal situation may have changed since you first put a plan in place. For example, have you purchased or sold any assets? Have you increased in net-worth? Do you have any new insurance policies, retirement plans or investment accounts?
From a planning perspective, it’s not unusual for such changes to go unaccounted for through the year. We get busy and often forget that even slight changes to our assets or family situation can have a huge impact on our estate plru1.
That’s why tax season is a great time to pull out your estate plam1ing documents and review them for accuracy. Does the will that you created in your early 30′ s still account for the assets you have now have at 40, 50 or 60? Does it account for the birth or adoption of children and include provisions that would shield their inheritance if something happens to you? Does it still reflect your financial ru1d healthcare wishes at this stage of life?
Remember, estate plam1ing is not something you “do” once and never look at again. Instead, your documents should grow with you and accurately reflect changes to your life and financial situation as it changes through the years.
So take time this tax season to review your will, trust or ru1y other estate plruming documents you have in place. If you spot changes that need to be made or think you may need a more comprehensive plan at this stage of life, give your estate planning attorney a call and get it taken care of while you are still healthy and of sound-mind.
Steve Worrall