Here’s to Your Wealth – Essential Estate Plan Review

A good way to start off the new year is to make sure your estate plan is up-to-date and represents your current wishes. If it’s been more than a few years, it is definitely time to review it. What kind of changes, if any, should you be considering? Below are a few ideas to help get you started.

• Purpose: The first thing to consider when reviewing an estate plan is what are your goals? What is it that you want to achieve with your estate plan and does the existing plan still align with that vision.
• Legal documents: Are the documents considered legal? Are they signed and properly witnessed? Were they created using online forms? It is always best to use a qualified estate planning attorney for drafting estate planning documents.
• Updated information: Ensure that contact information for beneficiaries, trustees, successor trustees, attorneys, and executors are up to date. This will make the execution of your estate plan much smoother. Additional documentation with contact information for tax preparers, wealth advisors, and others involved with the management of your assets and estate would also be very useful.
• Beneficiaries and asset distribution: Were there any births, deaths, marriages, divorces, and/or other life events or changes in family dynamics that may alter how you choose to distribute assets?
• Executor, trustee, and guardian appointments: Are the people named in your estate plan documents still appropriate, willing and able to fulfil their responsibilities?
• Your balance sheet: You should have an updated document listing all of your assets and all of your liabilities. You can include account numbers and passwords, just be sure to keep this in a secure location. If you use a safe at home, be sure someone else knows how to open it. Don’t forget your online presence. Who will close email accounts, social media accounts, and transfer any digital assets like photos, books and music? Do you own crypto? If so, who has access to your cryptocurrency wallets?
• Healthcare directives: Ensure that any living wills and healthcare proxies still accurately reflect your wishes. Make sure that whomever you appointed to make medical decisions for you are still an appropriate choice and are still willing and able to do so.
• Power of attorney: Ensure that whomever you appointed as financial and/or legal power of attorney are still an appropriate choice and are still willing and able to do so.
• Charitable bequests: If you have chosen to leave any of your estate to charity, review the organization(s) to ensure they still align with your values. It would also be a good time to confirm that the charity is still active.
• Estate taxes: Check with a qualified tax professional to see if there are any changes to estate tax law that should be considered in your plan.

When reviewing your estate planning documents, it would be a good time to also review your beneficiary designations on any qualified retirement plans, IRAs, life insurance policies and transfer on death (TOD) accounts.

Estate planning is an ongoing process. It is important to keep up with any changes throughout your life to ensure that your plan represents your current values and wishes. At Bank of New Hampshire, we are happy to review your documents and help you prepare questions and suggestions before you meet with a qualified estate planning attorney. If you currently don’t have an estate planning attorney or need to change attorneys, we are happy to give you a qualified referral.

Wishing you good health and good wealth.

We are not licensed attorneys and we do not provide legal advice or services. The information we provide is for general informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal advice. Communication with us does not create an attorney-client relationship. If you need legal advice, please consult with a licensed attorney.

References: Erskine, M. F. (2023, September 7). Client estate plan review checklist. Wealth Management. https://www.wealthmanagement.com/estate-planning/client-estate-plan-review-checklist

This material is intended for informational/educational purposes only and should not be construed as tax, legal or investment advice. We make no representation as to the completeness or accuracy of information provided at these websites. Please consult with your financial professional and/or a legal or tax professional regarding your specific situation and before making any investing decisions.

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