It’s been 2 years, do I really need to re-write my whole will?
Can I just make some minor changes by using a codicil?
It can be amazing how time flies. A few years ago, you decided to finally knock “Getting a Will” off your to-do list. Your financial planner was happy it was finally done. You told your friends at the next party that a large weight was off your mind. So you put your documents in a safe place and went on with life.
Changes in Your Family
But in the meantime, maybe one of your kids got married. Or maybe you are now a grandparent (for the first time or once again)? Possibly there were some other less joyous changes in your family. But in the course of the last 2 years, chances are there has been some kind of change in your family. If there’s been a change (or if you know a change is on the horizon), will that change affect your estate plan? You carefully crafted a will and other documents two years ago. But now that things have changed, that plan may not really be what you want today.
If there have been changes, now is a good time to review your plan and see if it needs updating. You may not need to re-write the whole plan. You can use a codicil instead to make minor changes.
Other Changes
Sometimes the changes aren’t in your family. Maybe you’ve changed jobs or are no longer working at all. These big life changes seem to happen (sometimes when we least expect them), but you don’t always think about how they impact your estate plan documents. If your employment has switched and you now have different benefits, does that will we wrote up still make sense to achieve your goals?
Just like you did six months or a year ago, now is a good time to do a quick check of your will and estate plan documents and make sure they are all up to date with where things are these days.
Next Steps
If it’s time to make some changes to your will or other estate plan documents, call my office to set up a meeting and we can review the best options for you – (877) AMAYERS.
