Is it time to review your estate plan?
Answering these questions will help you decide whether you should review and update your current estate plan.
Financial Status
- Has your net worth changed significantly since you established or last modified your estate plan?
- Has the overall nature of your assets (e.g., stocks, IRAs, real property, partnerships, life insurance) changed since you established or last modified your estate plan?
- Do you have substantial tax-deferred assets?
Change in Family Composition or Beneficiaries
- Has your marital status changed?
- Have you registered, or might you benefit from registering, as a Domestic Partnership?
- Are you concerned about leaving an inheritance outright to a beneficiary, and/or would you like to restrict a beneficiary's access to his/her inheritance?
- Do you have new beneficiaries, or want to make any additions, omissions or changes to any bequests or beneficiaries?
- Are any of your beneficiaries disabled or receiving public assistance, such as SSI or Medi-Cal?
Change in Decision Makers
- Have there been any significant changes in the lives of your appointed decision makers that would affect their ability to serve on your behalf?
- Are there people you would like to have as decision makers who are not listed on your original estate plan documents?
Other Considerations
- If you have a living trust, do you need assistance in reviewing whether you have properly transferred title to your assets to the living trust?
- Do you want to make gifts while you are alive to your children, grandchildren, relatives or friends for their education or other endeavors, or for your own tax considerations?
- Are you interested in making charitable gifts during your life or at death?
- Are you counting on Medi-Cal to cover the cost of nursing home care?
- Do you have a Bypass, Residual or Exemption Trust?
If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, we invite you to call our office at 415-925-5200 to schedule a consultation.
For a printable PDF of this estate planning review, click here. You can save and/or print this PDF document. (To view PDF files, download Acrobat Reader free.)