Update Planning

So you have done the hard work of establishing an estate plan. Good for you! However, you still have serious work to do to ensure that the strategy you have selected will maximize your peace of mind and protect your legacy. 

Estate plans should be like living, breathing creations that reflect the changes in your life. Your life can and will change due to new births, children getting older, and other shifts in the family; changes to your investment portfolio, career and business; and changes to your health, where you live, and your core values. Likewise, external events, such as new tax legislation passed in your state or the development of a novel financial instrument, can throw your plan off track or open the door to new opportunities.
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Please allow us to be frank. It’s unrealistic to think that a piece of paper you draft, reflecting your life at a certain time, will work when your life has completely changed some years later. We’ll use the Kendrick family as an example.

Meet the Kendricks

Meet Bill and Karen Kendrick. They got their first estate plan in place when their daughter, Jessica, was born 30 years ago.
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Estate plans are almost magical: They allow you to maintain control of your assets, yet protect you should you become incapacitated. They take care of your family and pets. And, if carefully crafted, they reduce fees, taxes, stress, and time delays. Estate plans can even keep your family and financial affairs private. But one thing estate plans can’t do is update themselves.
Read more . . .

Please allow us to be frank. It’s unrealistic to think that a piece of paper you draft, reflecting your life at a certain time, will work when your life has completely changed some years later. We’ll use the Kendrick family as an example.

Meet the Kendricks

Meet Bill and Karen Kendrick. They got their first estate plan in place when their daughter, Jessica was born 30 years ago.
Read more . . .

Estate plans are almost magical: they allow you to maintain control of your assets, yet protect you should you become incapacitated. They take care of your family and pets. And, if carefully crafted, they reduce fees, taxes, stress, and time delays. Estate plans can even keep your family and financial affairs private. But one thing estate plans can’t do is update themselves.
Read more . . .

A resume is a “snapshot” of your experience, skill set, and education which provides prospective employers insight into who you are and how you will perform. Imagine not updating that resume for 5, 10, or even 15 years. Would it accurately reflect who you are? Would it do what you want it to do? Likely not. Estate plans are similar in that they need to be updated on a regular basis to reflect changes in your life so they can do what you want them to do.

Outdated estate plans - like outdated resumes - simply don’t work.

With 2015 right around the corner, it’s time to start thinking about your new year’s resolutions. 

It doesn’t matter whether you have an estate plan or don’t, one important item to add to your list is getting an estate plan checkup.

Don’t Have an Estate Plan? 

If you don’t already have an estate plan, then getting one in place should be at the top of your 2015 new year’s resolutions. 

Why?  Because without an estate plan, you and your property may end up in a court-supervised guardianship if you become incapacitated, and your property and your loved ones may end up in probate court after you die. 

Worse yet, if you don’t take the time to make your own will, then the state where you live at the time of your death will essentially write one for you, and it most likely won’t divvy up your property the way you would have.
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