You don’t have to wait until spring cleaning to spruce up your estate plan. It’s always a great time to organize your financial records, review your beneficiaries, and update your estate planning documents.
Review Beneficiaries
Consider reviewing and updating your beneficiaries periodically. A beneficiary is a person you designate to receive property from a bank, brokerage account, or insurance policy after you pass away. To update your beneficiaries, contact your bank, broker, or insurance company. Beneficiaries you designate will trump (supersede) your wishes in your last will and testament.
Organize Financial Records
Organizing documents can be a daunting task. Consider opting for electronic delivery of statements to reduce the amount of paperwork you have to manage. Financial institutions offer access to your accounts via an app or web portal, which may be more secure than having to manage printed copies.
Update Estate Planning Documents
Now after reviewing your financial records and beneficiaries, it’s the perfect time to spruce up your estate plan. Your estate plan should at least include your will, power of attorney, medical power of attorney, and HIPAA release.
Hammerle Finley Law Firm is Here to Help With Estate Planning
Your estate plan must evolve as your life changes through marriage, divorce, birth, death, kids growing up, or changes to your finances. That’s why It’s important to periodically review your estate plan with your estate planning attorney to ensure the plan still meets your needs and goals as they exist today. Over time your circumstances may dictate that you need other estate planning strategies like appointing a guardian before the need arises or creating a trust to handle some of those life events.
If you need help updating your estate plan, give Hammerle Finley a call and schedule a consultation.
Attorney Wilson is an attorney at Hammerle Finley Law Firm, a boutique law firm offering services in estate planning, probate, guardianship, business law, litigation, and real estate. Contact him at (972) 436-9300.
This article does not constitute as legal advice.
