There are certain times in a person’s life when he or she may need to make changes to a will or trust fund. One example could be if a person has just moved to Texas from another state. Since different states have different estate planning and inheritance laws, it could be a good idea to meet with an estate planning attorney in any new state of residence or in any state where a person owns property.
When creating an estate plan, some people include a power of attorney, which designates someone else to make medical or financial decisions on their behalf if they are unable to do so. If this was not done at the time of drafting the estate plan, a power of attorney can be added later. If someone gets a bad medical diagnosis, it would be good to make this addition sooner rather than later before the person becomes incapacitated.
Another time to revisit an estate plan is after a separation, to ensure that any roles that were held by a spouse, such as power of attorney or trustee, are re-filled. A person may also want to designate a new trustee who oversees the trust fund after the death of the person creating the trust if the trustor and trustee have a falling out. Trustees should be replaced if they prove themselves to be unreliable, such as if the trustee develops a gambling addiction.
Some estate plans may already account for the possibility of more children coming into the family, but others will need to be changed if an estate holder wants to leave assets to those children. If someone acquires more assets during his or her lifetime, this would be another occasion when it could be good to speak with an estate planning attorney about making modifications to an estate plan.
