You may have already created an estate plan, but this doesn’t mean your work is done. As life moves on, changes can occur that will require you to change your plans. Whether it’s the birth of your own child or a grandchild, it may be time to take another look and make some adjustments to your will and other estate plans.

A Great Impact

Of all the life changes that can happen, a new family member has one of the greatest impacts on your estate planning. This can include aspects like your will and trust, business succession plans, beneficiaries and other directives that can be part of your estate. For this reason, it’s critical to talk to your estate planning attorney about the changes as soon as they are imminent so you can get started on changing the plans to accommodate the newest members of your family. They will be able to advise you regarding the best ways to split up what you have and recommend if you should consider expanding your life insurance policies or other means of financial support in place for after you are gone.

Other Life Changes

If you will be changing your estate plan because the of the addition to a child or grandchild to your family, it may be time to look at other changes at the same time so it can all be done. Talking to your estate planning attorney will help you decide which changes should be considered making at the same time you are altering the beneficiaries and other aspects of your estate planning. It can sometimes be difficult to realize when you should change your will and trust to reflect the major life changes that occur over time. It’s too easy to create these documents and then forget about them.

Working with a qualified estate planning attorney will ensure your documents remain up to date and keep all of your life changes in mind so if the worst should happen, everything is properly in order.

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