If you’re like a lot of people, you feel pretty good in the wake of working with an experienced estate administration attorney to craft what you believe is a future-oriented plan that makes sense and will well protect your loved ones.
And that’s understandable.
Don’t forget to occasionally revisit the specifics, though, because what is now timely and well tailored can easily grow stale and even irrelevant over time.
We have noted in some prior posts a firm reality regarding all families, which is this: Time breeds change, meaning that what might make great sense today will need some tinkering or material adjustment somewhere down the road.
A financial columnist/adviser passes along a solid piece of advice for readers in a recent Forbes piece, telling them to not go too far down that proverbial road without revisiting an existing plan.
What will change and merit adjustment later is likely not apparent now, but the catalysts for change are many for families. The above writer notes that even she was remiss for waiting far too long to change a beneficiary designation on her retirement accounts.
For one planner, a selected guardian for young children might someday need to be changed. For another, it is perhaps happy complications resulting from a newly blended family that will necessarily yield adjustments. Health care directives, elder law concerns, financial powers of attorney — all these things and more routinely need addressing at some point by individuals who have already executed estate plans.
It is a solid and important accomplishment to take legal steps that promote the future you envision for yourself and your loved ones. Returning occasionally to your plan to make revisions concerning important changes can help keep your strategies timely and viable.