Having an estate plan in place can bring welcome peace of mind. You have taken time to identify your priorities, choose people you trust and explain how you want to provide for loved ones. A periodic review helps that plan continue to reflect your life.
Reviewing the plan every few years is a useful habit. A significant event may justify an earlier conversation. Sometimes the review confirms that the existing documents still work well; sometimes a modest adjustment prevents confusion later.
Changes in your family
A marriage, divorce, birth, adoption or death can affect both the people you want to provide for and the people you have chosen to help. Changes in a child’s or grandchild’s circumstances may also affect the timing or form of an inheritance.
If you have minor children, revisit the people you have nominated to care for them and the arrangements for managing their financial support. A person who was an excellent choice years ago may now live elsewhere, have health concerns or face different responsibilities.
Changes in your property and finances
Review the nature and value of your assets, not just the total balance. A new business, an inheritance, a property sale or a home in another state may introduce questions that an earlier plan did not address.
Look at account ownership and beneficiary designations alongside the documents. A trust may need additional funding after a new account or property is acquired. Review retirement accounts and the role of life insurance so those arrangements support the plan you intend.
Changes in health and availability
Confirm that your personal representative, trustees, financial agents and health care surrogates remain willing and able to serve. Check their contact information and the successor choices. New care needs within the family may call for a different kind of support or a closer look at benefits eligibility.
Your own wishes may also evolve. A conversation about treatment preferences, charitable goals or the practical burden of managing property can reveal useful changes that a document-only review might miss.
Changes in the law
Tax rules and other laws can affect how a plan operates. Not every legal development requires new documents, and an older document is not invalid simply because of its age. The question is whether the plan remains effective for your circumstances under the applicable rules.
Bring your existing documents and a current overview of your assets to a review. We can help you identify what still works, what needs attention and the steps necessary to carry out any changes. Our estate-planning work includes helping clients keep their plans useful as life develops.
Updated October 26, 2026.