While you may feel as if your estate planning documents are already in order, it is important that they remain up to date. Even if you have filed your paperwork before, there are a number of changes that will take place before you move onto a better place. Your estate planning documents must remain up to date, so read on to learn more about their importance.
Changes In The Law
Laws change on a consistent basis and it is impossible for the average citizen to remain fully up to date. If your estate planning documents have not been put in place in time, your loved ones could be victimized by alterations that have been made to ordinances and laws in your area.
If you do not properly plan for the afterlife, your family’s inheritance could take a major hit, due to estate taxes and other legal fees associated with your death.
Providing a Family Nest Egg
Taking care of your family is incredibly important and the majority of us would like to ensure that their needs are met, even after we are gone. By establishing all of the necessary estate planning from an early stage, this eliminates much of the guesswork that your family will have to go through in order to collect their inheritance, which allows them to carry on in your absence.
Avoiding Legal Battles
Friends and family members coming out of the woodwork to claim that they are owed an inheritance from a deceased family member is one of the most unfortunate aspects of life after a loved one’s death. To steer clear of these protracted legal battles, drafting estate planning documents is pivotal.
They will save your family a boatload of legal fees, keep them out of the court system and allow them to mourn your passing as they see fit.
Health Care Directives
Providing health care directives for your loved ones during the estate planning process enables you to bypass HIPAA restrictions, so that your medical information can be shared with the loved one of your choice. If you are to become incapacitated for any reason, these directives provide your family members with the proof that they need to carry out your final wishes.
Life Changes
Let’s say you have already drafted your estate planning documents several years ago and you feel confident that this aspect of your life has already been squared away. Life changes happen and they tend to take place rather quickly. As such, it behooves a client to regularly update their estate planning documents to reflect these shifts.
Perhaps the person you have named as your successor has already passed away. Or maybe you have gone through a divorce. Your estate may have changed in size since your original documents were created. When the facts of your life change, your estate planning documents need to reflect them.
