A Living Trust and Will Must Be Reviewed Every 4 to 5 Years to Ensure That They Are Current

Every four or five years estate planning documents must be reviewed to ensure that the will and living trust are current. There are several factors that can account for estate planning documents no longer being current.

Federal and state law possible changes:

- State and federal laws are constantly changing, both because Congress and state legislatures make changes and because the courts render decisions that affect tax-saving or estate-planning techniques.

- For example, in 2009 the federal estate tax exemption is scheduled to go to $3,500,000. In 2010, estate taxes may be repealed altogether. On the other hand, there is a good possibility that estate taxes may be raised in 2009. Can any of these possibilities by dealt with by flexibility in your old estate plan?

Possible changes in personal circumstances:

Here are some of the possible changes in personal circumstances that could affect how current are your estate planning documents:

- You may have had a new child, or you may have decided to change who you named as the guardian of your children.

- You may have gotten divorced or remarried.

- You may have received an inheritance, putting your estate into a range where some advanced estate planning techniques would be a benefit.

- You may have bought a different house or commercial property and forgotten to transfer that new property into your existing trust.

- You may have finally decided who gets Uncle Harry's coin collection or Grandma's china.

Your current estate plans can be affected by a number of other changes.

Difficulties of going through a review of estate planning documents: For many people, making the decisions required for estate planning documents is difficult. Considering scenarios that can be uncomfortable are often required in order to make these decisions. So when a client has finally signed his or her estate planning documents, there's a big sense of relief - as well as the desire not to think of these decisions again.

But there are consequences of not reviewing estate planning documents every few years: A surviving spouse or heirs can be in deep trouble if estate plans are not reviewed every few years or when a personal situation changes. It's important to keep estate planning documents current to save loved ones from avoidable problems.

The above information is only considerations for you to discuss with your own estate planning attorney; it is NOT legal advice. An attorney-client relationship is not established by the providing of this material.

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For more estate planning information watch the short free video on the home page of Mitchell R. Miller's www.estateplanningforyou.com . You'll learn more about why you need a living trust in addition to a will in order to avoid probate. Mitchell R. Miller has been a tax, trust and estate attorney for over 30 years. EstatePlanningforYou.com is a subsidiary of www.millermosaic.com .