Ideally, you’ll start crafting your estate plan the day once you reach majority. Doing so can make it easier to exercise greater control over a Colorado home, art collection or other assets that you might own. However, it’s important to review your plan regularly to ensure that it can still meet your needs.
Review your plan at least once a year
At a minimum, you’ll want to take a look at your will, trust and other plan documents at least once per calendar year. Doing so may help you find issues that you might have overlooked before they can cause any harm. For example, you might discover that your will wasn’t witnessed by two people or that your trust was not properly funded. An estate planning attorney might be able to assist you during the review process.
Take a look at your plan after a major life event
If you have recently gotten married, gotten divorced or welcomed a child into the family, it’s a good idea to look at your estate plan. It may be necessary to add your spouse as the beneficiary of a 401(k), remove a former partner as a beneficiary or appoint a guardian for your son or daughter.
Have there been any changes to the tax code?
There is a chance that the federal estate tax exemption will change at some point in the future. There is also a chance that estate tax laws at the state level will change in the future as well. These alterations could render your plan obsolete, which means that it will likely need to be changed to better accomplish your long-term goals.
An attorney may be able to help you thoroughly review your estate plan to ensure that your wishes will be respected after you pass. An attorney may also make sure that trusts and power of attorney documents are properly executed. These documents allow someone to manage your affairs in the event that you become incapacitated for any reason.