Time To Update Your Will Or Trust

By Terry Douglas, Maryland Elder Law Attorney

When you buy a new car, everything works perfectly. Your estate plan is like your car. When you set it up, everything is current and accurate.

You wouldn't think of going on a long trip without making sure that your car was in tip-top shape. Yet every day, people embark on the long trip we call life. And the problem with our “life trip” is that we're never sure when that trip might detour. It's a good idea to review your estate plan with your lawyer every year or two to see if changes in your family's circumstances need to be reflected in your estate plan.

For example You should review your estate plan with your estate planning attorney any time you get married, you and your spouse divorce, your spouse dies or becomes incapacitated, your health changes, you have or adopt a child, your children marry or divorce, a potential problem arises with a beneficiary, the value of your assets changes, your employment changes, you retire, you acquire property in another state, or you move to a different state.

People invest hard-earned money to set up their estate plans. Then, they put their plans in a drawer or safe deposit box where they gather dust for two years, five years, even 10 years often without updating the plan even once.

And then, when these people have an emergency, they dig out their paperwork only to learn that their plan no longer works. It was custom-designed to fit their specific needs five years ago. But now their needs, and often the law, have changed and no one updated the plan.

Your estate plan must be fully-operational, ready to handle any emergency at a moment's notice. If your spouse has a heart attack and cannot make medical decisions, you don't want the nurse at the hospital to explain that the legislature changed the law and now your Powers of Attorney are no longer valid. Or, if your spouse dies, you don't want the judge to tell you that your estate must go through probate because your Revocable

Living Trust has not been properly maintained and updated.

You need your estate plan to be ready for any emergency 24 hours a day because you never know when you might need it.

A current estate plan that works precisely the way it should protecting your family and safeguarding your assets is the greatest gift of love you can give to your family, your spouse, and yourself. It's a great investment too.