Planning for Aging

Dear Friends,

While the weather still feels summery, the leaves are starting to change signaling a seasonal shift. Change is a constant in our lives, and it’s a good reminder to review your estate plan to make sure that all the decisions you made while creating your estate plan, are still valid.

Here are a few reasons your estate plan might need to be updated:

Life changes – Have there been any divorces, marriages, births, disabilities or deaths in your family?

  • The birth of a child or grandchild requires the reevaluation of your documents to ensure there are provisions in place for minor children.
  • If you have divorced, this change requires a full update to your documents because divorce typically annuls the documents you signed during marriage. Additionally, divorce requires updates to beneficiary designations on your accounts. If a child has divorced, you might want to review the distributions outlined in your trust.
  • Marriage also dramatically alters the estate planning landscape in many ways, so it’s important to review and analyze the impact on your documents.
  • Disability or death of a loved one also requires additional thought if the person was serving as a fiduciary since you will need to consider someone else for the role they filled.

Asset Changes – Any asset change requires a review to ensure that the ownership and/or beneficiary designations are consistent with your estate plan goals. As asset values change, this can impact how your trust  functions and it’s a good idea to revisit your plan.

Legal & Tax Changes – The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act established the increased estate and gift tax exemption (currently $13.61M per person), however, the exemption provisions are scheduled to sunset on December 31, 2025, reducing the available exemption to approximately $6.8m. The November election will determine which party controls the White House and Congress, and they will set the agenda for how to handle the expiring tax laws.

If you have experienced any of these changes or want to understand the impact of the tax law changes, contact us to schedule a Legal Check-Up.

Sincerely,

Anna