While it is critical for every adult to have an estate plan in place, it is just as important to periodically evaluate your estate plan to ensure that everything you have set up is still appropriate. After all, our lives are always evolving and ever-changing. There are some life events that could necessitate a change in your current estate plan. The following are some of the most common. For more details regarding your particular situation, contact Yee Law Group.
Change in Marital Status
Whether you have gotten married or gotten divorced, these major life events should initiate a phone call to your Sacramento estate planning attorney. If you get married, you will likely want to make sure that your spouse will be taken care of should something happen to you. Conversely, if you divorce your spouse, you will likely want to make sure your ex will not benefit from your death, including inheriting any of your assets and/or property.
The Birth or Adoption of a Child
Having a child changes everything – including your estate plan! Whether you have given birth to a child or adopted a child, it is important to make sure you make provisions – i.e., a living trust – to ensure your child will be taken care of in the event you die. It is also important to name a guardian for your child in your will. If you fail to do this, the courts will do it for you, and the person they name may not be anyone you would have wanted to raise your child.
Move to a New State
Every state has its own intestacy laws. What applies in one state may not apply in another. If you have moved to a different state since you set up your estate plan, you will want to find a skilled estate planning lawyer in your new state who can help you draft up a new estate plan and ensure it conforms to the law in the new state.
Death
Sadly, there are situations where someone named in the estate plan – a beneficiary, executor, heir, power of attorney, or guardian – passes away first. It is important for the person to update their estate plan to name someone else in place of the person who has passed.
The Purchase or Sale of a Home
If you have recently purchased a home, you will want that property reflected in your estate plan, such as establishing a living trust that would automatically transfer ownership of the home to a beneficiary without the need for the probate process.
If you recently sold your home, the assets from that sale may also need to be addressed in an estate plan to make sure that your family receives the bulk of those assets – and not the government in taxes – should something happen to you.
Contact Our Office Today
If you would like to learn more about estate planning and estate planning tools that could benefit your family, call Yee Law Group to speak with one of our dedicated Sacramento estate planning attorneys.
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