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You can always revise your will. Estate planning professionals recommend that you review your will whenever
there is a major life event.
Examples of such life events include:
You move to another state.
Younger family members become less dependent.
Older relatives need your help.
Named beneficiaries
die.
There are other changes in your family such as divorce or the birth of a child.
The value of your
estate significantly increases or decreases.
Changes in federal income, gift and estate tax laws undermine tax-saving
provisions in your will.
You decide to include special friends or worthy causes or you want to delete the names
of people or charities listed in your will.
You change jobs and need to integrate your new employee benefits with
your overall estate plan goals.
If you want to make only minor changes in your will, you can add a codicil,
a legal document that details your wishes. Like the will itself, it must meet specific standards in order to be valid, so
check with your attorney. If you have extensive changes, it is better to make a new will.
Most people spend an
entire lifetime accumulating their hard-earned assets and spend less than an hour planning for how to pass them on. The time
you take to organize a well thought out estate plan is a legacy of love in itself. It will help ensure that the goals you
have for your loved ones will be met even if you are not around. It can also give you immense peace of mind knowing that your
money and your property will be distributed just as you intended.
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