Set It & Forget It: Is your estate plan ever really done?

By Lisa Counsell

Are any of you Gardeners? I am. Vegetables, not just flowers. Winter is long. By April my fingers are itching to be in the dirt. I spend as much time as the weather will allow in my garden pulling weeds, turning and amending the soil, all the non-planting tasks required of a gardener. Then I have to sit on my hands to keep from planting until after Memorial Day! I have a modest-sized garden, so I no longer plant frost-hardy, early spring vegetables. I wait for my favorites: tomatoes, potatoes, brussels sprouts, peppers, zucchini, eggplant, and squash.

There is nothing more satisfying than finally surveying my hard work once the seedlings are in nice, neat, weed-free rows.

And then . . . summer happens.

At present, I am drowning in tomatoes and zucchini, peppers and eggplant. A great problem to have, but my garden is no longer a nice, neat, orderly picture. It’s full of weeds, the tomatoes have overgrown their stakes, and the cosmos has decided to take over! As every year, I am reminded that gardening is not a “set it and forget it” hobby.

Estate planning is not unlike gardening. It is a big task, often overwhelming, but always a great relief to survey completed and signed documents, everything neatly outlined in black and white. And then . . . LIFE happens.

There are many reasons you might be advised to revisit and “tend” your estate plan.

Early planning often includes a relatively simple Will, Power of Attorney, and Advance Directive for Healthcare. Young people are often prompted to do this planning as part of entering a committed, long-term relationship that might include marriage, buying a home, and beginning to accumulate financial assets. Typically, the consideration of adding a trust to an estate plan comes somewhat later in life.

A common occasion for the first review and possible modification of an estate plan would be the birth of a child. No longer are you planning only for yourself and your spouse/life partner. Now, at least one new concern is guardianship for your children should something happen to you.

As we age, a multitude of events might trigger revision, amendment, or restatement of estate planning documents. You might find that your assets have grown and diversified to such an extent that more complex tax planning is warranted. Your beneficiaries might change for any number of reasons, including birth, death, divorce, or new charitable goals.

So, to answer the question in the title of this article: No, you should never consider your estate plan as done. The easy rule of thumb is that any significant life or asset change should be considered in the context of your existing estate plan. At the same time, your documents can be brought up to date to account for any changes in the law that might affect them.

While we cannot draft revisions and amendments, our trust administration team has a wealth of knowledge that can be helpful in considering any potential change. We are happy to partner with you and your attorney to strategize and provide administrative perspective. Our focus is on making the process easier for you so that you can get back to enjoying the more important things in life, like gardening perhaps!