When Should You Update Your Estate Plan?

An estate plan is accurate on the day you sign it. After that, every change in your family, your assets, your address, or the tax code moves it a little further from what you would write today. Most of the plans we review were signed years ago and still name a guardian who has since moved abroad, an executor who has died, or an ex-spouse as the beneficiary of a retirement account. Knowing when to update your estate plan is mostly a matter of recognizing the trigger events, and then actually making the appointment.

Family events that should trigger a review

Marriage, remarriage, and new partners

A will signed before marriage may not provide for your spouse as you intend, and in Virginia, DC, and New York a surviving spouse has a statutory right to claim an elective share of the estate regardless of what the will says. A second marriage with children from a first marriage is the single most common source of estate litigation we see: the plan must say whether the new spouse or the children come first, and in what order, or the default rules decide for you. Unmarried partners have no inheritance rights at all under intestacy law, so a plan is the only way to provide for them. These are the conversations our estate planning attorneys have with every client whose family has changed shape since the last signing.

Divorce and separation

Virginia and New York law automatically revoke provisions in a will that favor a former spouse once the divorce is final, and both extend that rule to many beneficiary designations, with exceptions. Do not rely on it. The revocation does not reach every asset, it does not apply during a separation, and federal law requires an employer retirement plan to pay whoever is named on the plan’s own form, even an ex-spouse, regardless of state law. Update every document and every designation yourself.

Births, adoptions, deaths, and incapacity

A new child or grandchild should be reflected in the will, the guardian nomination, and any trust that distributes by name rather than by class. The death or incapacity of a named executor, trustee, agent, or guardian leaves a hole that the court will fill if you do not. We recommend naming at least one alternate for every role, and reviewing those names every few years even if nothing else has changed.

Changes in what you own

Buying or selling a business, acquiring real estate in another state or country, receiving an inheritance, or opening a large retirement account all change the shape of the plan. A revocable trust only controls assets that have been retitled into it, so a house bought after the trust was signed sits outside it unless someone deeds it in. Out-of-state real estate held in your own name means an extra probate proceeding in that state, as explained in our post on planning for real estate in more than one state. A new business interest raises questions about who can run it, who can sell it, and whether a buy-sell agreement already dictates the answer. These are the issues our estate planning and asset protection team reviews when a client’s balance sheet changes.

Moving to a different state or country

A will validly executed in one state is generally honored in another, so a move alone rarely invalidates the plan. What changes is everything around the will. Powers of attorney and health care directives use state-specific forms that banks and hospitals in the new state may not recognize. Estate tax exposure changes too: New York and the District of Columbia impose their own estate taxes at exemption levels well below the federal figure, while Virginia has no estate tax. A family moving from Herndon to Manhattan, or from Washington to Istanbul, needs the plan reread in light of the new jurisdiction’s rules, including any forced heirship rules that apply to property abroad.

Changes in the law

Federal estate and gift tax exemption amounts are set by statute and indexed for inflation, and Congress revisits them periodically. Plans drafted when the exemption was far lower often contain formula clauses that split assets between a marital trust and a credit shelter trust in ways that no longer make sense and can leave a surviving spouse with less access than intended. Retirement account rules changed significantly with the SECURE Act, which replaced the lifetime stretch for most non-spouse beneficiaries with a ten-year payout. If your trust is named as an IRA beneficiary and was drafted before that change, it needs a second look.

How often to review when nothing has happened

Even without a trigger event, we suggest a review every three to five years. The review is short: confirm the fiduciaries are still the right people and still willing, confirm the beneficiary designations match the will and trust (our post on beneficiary designations and your will explains why these drift apart), confirm the trust is funded, and confirm the powers of attorney are recent enough that institutions will accept them. Compare what you have against the estate planning documents checklist and note anything missing.

How to update your estate plan

Small changes to a will can be made by a codicil, signed with the same formalities as the will, but for anything beyond a single name change we usually recommend a new will that revokes the old one. Multiple codicils invite inconsistency and give a disappointed heir something to argue about. Trust amendments follow whatever procedure the trust instrument sets out. Beneficiary designations are changed directly with each institution, and you should keep the written confirmation. Destroy superseded originals, or mark them revoked, so that two conflicting documents do not surface at once.

If you cannot remember the last time you read your estate plan, a consultation with Capitol Law Partners can identify what has drifted and what needs to change. Schedule a consultation.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is formed by this communication.

Attorney Sena Sahin. Clear advice for individuals, families, and business owners.

Need help with this topic? See our estate planning services page or schedule a consultation.