When to Update Your Estate Plan?

Pleasanton estate planning attorney describes how protecting your legacy starts with being proactive.

Completing Your Estate Plan is Just the Beginning

Creating an estate plan is a major step toward protecting your assets, ensuring your wishes are clear, and giving your loved ones peace of mind. But it's just the beginning of a lifelong process. Most clients instinctively understand this, and one of the most common questions I receive towards the end of a consultation or signing appointment is:

How do I know when it's time to update all of this?

Here’s the thing: your estate plan isn’t just a “set it and forget it” set of documents. Over time, changes in your life, finances, relationships, and the law can make your plan outdated, leading to unintended consequences.

In this post, we’ll uncover:

• Why regular reviews matter

• Key “trigger events” that warrant updates

• How often you should revisit your plan

• A practical checklist to help you stay current; and

• Common mistakes to avoid

  
  

Why Regular Estate-Plan Reviews Matter

Updating your estate plan regularly (rather than only when something big happens) offers several benefits:

• Reflect current wishes: Your goals, relationships, or priorities may shift over time. Your estate plan should reflect those changes.

  
  

• Avoid unintended outcomes: If a document names someone who is no longer appropriate, or leaves out someone important, it can create confusion, conflict or legal problems.

  
  

• Keep up with the law: Estate planning laws (federal and state) change from time to time, and those changes can affect the way your plan should be structured.

  
  

• Protect your family: An updated plan helps reduce the burden on your loved ones by ensuring that your wishes are clear and valid when they need them.

Think of your estate plan like a car: you wouldn’t drive it for years without changing the oil or checking the tires, would you? Regular “maintenance” keeps important things working the way you intend.

Major Life “Triggers” That Should Prompt an Update

Even if you’re conducting periodic reviews, there are specific events in life that often require you to revisit your estate plan right away. Here are the most important ones:

• Marriage or Divorce (yours): A new marriage changes your family and legal situation. A divorce often requires you to remove or replace an ex-spouse from beneficiary or trustee roles.

  
  

• Marriage or Divorce (of a child or other beneficiary): If a child or other beneficiary named in your estate plan gets married, or gets divorced, it’s probably time for a review. For instance, if a child gets married, you may wish to include provisions in the trust to help protect the child’s inheritance from being taken by the new spouse in the event their marriage terminates in the future. Or, on the other side of the spectrum, you may absolutely adore the new spouse and want to provide for them in your estate plan if your child was not living. Alternatively, if a child or other beneficiary gets divorced, you will likely want to remove that former spouse from your estate plan as a successor trustee or beneficiary.

• Birth or Adoption of a Child (or Grandchild): When you add a new family member, this may require naming a guardian, updating trusts or including your child or grandchild in your distribution plans.  

  
  

• Concerns About your Beneficiaries: If you have any concerns about a beneficiary named in your estate plan (addictions or money problems, for example) it’s time for a review.

• Death or Incapacity of Someone Named in Your Plan: If a beneficiary, guardian, executor or trustee dies or becomes unable to serve, you’ll want to update your documents accordingly.

  
  

• Significant Change in Financial Status or Assets: Buying a property, starting or selling a business, receiving an inheritance, or acquiring new investments will warrant updating your trust funding or beneficiary designations.

  
  

• Relocation to a New State or Country: Estate laws vary by jurisdiction; moving may render certain documents invalid or inappropriate.

  
  

• Changes in the Law: Tax reform, changes in federal estate tax exemptions, property tax laws, or updates to how retirement accounts are treated and taxed after death are all examples of factors that may warrant an update to your documents in order to optimize the tax results.  

It’s not just the “big” events, either. Sometimes subtler shifts (children becoming more mature, changing jobs, or moving) also may deserve a look.

How Often Should Your Estate Plan Be Reviewed?

There’s no one “perfect” timeline that fits everyone. However, we suggest the following:

• Every 3-5 years for most people under ordinary circumstances.

  
  

• Annually or more frequently if you have a large estate, complex assets, or you experience frequent changes in your life or finances.

  
  

• Immediately after any of the major life-trigger events described above.

  
  

Bottom line: even if nothing “major” happened, it’s smart to schedule a review every few years. Your estate plan is only as effective as its relevance.

Estate Plan Update Checklist

Here’s a practical checklist to use when reviewing your estate plan:

1. Check who you’ve named

   • Beneficiaries on major accounts (IRAs, 401(k)s, life insurance)

   • Trustee/executor/guardian appointments

   • Powers of Attorney (financial + health)

   • Are these still the right people? Have any passed away, become incapacitated, untrustworthy, or simply too busy to be able to help when needed?

     
     

2. Review assets

   • Did you buy a home, start a business, acquire new investments, bank accounts, or life insurance?

   • Has the value of your estate changed significantly?

   • Did you inherit assets?

     
     

3. Life changes

   • Marriage/divorce/remarriage

   • Birth/adoption of children

   • Children becoming adults or entering another life stage

   • Relocation

     
     

4. Legal & tax changes

   • Are there new estate or transfer tax laws?

   • Are there new property tax laws?

5. Communication and location

   • Does your named trustee/executor/POA know where documents are stored?

   • Have you communicated your intentions to trusted family or advisors?

   • Are digital assets and passwords accounted for?

     (While less-often mentioned, this is becoming increasingly important.)

6. Do the details still “fit”

   • If your goals, concerns, or relationships have changed, do the estate planning documents reflect that?

     
     

Use the above checklist as a tool to determine whether it’s time for a full update — or just a minor tweak.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Updating your plan is more than just checking boxes. Here are pitfalls to watch out for:

• Assuming nothing has changed: Even if life seems “stable,” laws will change and relationships will evolve.

  
  

• Failing to update beneficiaries: Many assets pass outside the trust and will (e.g., retirement accounts), so if beneficiary designations are old, your estate plan may not reflect your wishes. Similarly, some assets may benefit from having the trust as a beneficiary (such as life insurance) or removing the trust as a beneficiary (such as retirement accounts when a minor child becomes of age).

  
  

• Neglecting the non asset-related factors: Having current powers of attorney, healthcare directives, and guardianships are just as important as the inheritance details.

  
  

• Poor communication: A plan is only helpful if someone knows about it, can access it, and understands your wishes.

  
  

• Document storage issues: Make sure your plan, as well as any amendments, are stored securely but accessibly, and that key people know where to find them.

Final Thoughts

Like everything we rely upon in life, your estate plan requires maintenance. Changes in relationships, assets, and laws are inevitable. Plan ahead, revisit your documents regularly, and don’t let your intentions become outdated.

Even if nothing has “majorly changed,” reviewing your plan with you estate planning attorney every few years helps ensure your legacy and loved ones are protected.