When You Review Your Estate Planning Documents, Start Here

Most people do not avoid reviewing their estate planning documents because they do not care. They avoid it because it feels like opening a drawer full of responsibilities. Important, yes. Urgent, not always. Easy, rarely.

A good review is not about rewriting everything. It is about confirming that the people you chose still make sense, the documents still work where you live, and the way assets transfer still matches your intentions. When those pieces are aligned, the plan tends to hold up when it is needed.

Here are the issues worth considering when you sit down to review what you already have.

Begin With the Threshold Questions

Before getting lost in details, it helps to answer a few threshold questions that affect everything else.

If you have recently changed residency, confirm you have established your domicile, meaning your legal home, and that your estate plan is valid under the laws of that domicile. A move can be more than a change of address. It can change the legal environment around your documents.

It is also worth reviewing the applicable laws and any changes that have occurred since you executed your documents, both state and federal, and updating the plan if those changes affect it.

Finally, confirm and share the location of your original documents. They should be kept in a safe but accessible place, and the location should be known to your family or your fiduciaries. A plan that cannot be found is not much of a plan.

Review Your Will and the People Who Carry It Out

A Will depends heavily on the people named inside it.

Review your Executor or Personal Representative appointments and successors. Confirm that your appointed fiduciary is qualified to serve under your state laws and capable of fulfilling the duties. If you are naming co-fiduciaries, weigh the benefits against the possible complications. More than one person can bring balance. It can also bring a delay.

If you have minor children, confirm that your plan includes trust provisions, whether in a testamentary or a living trust, to control the timing and amount of access to funds and to support and protect your children adequately.

If your Will refers to a tangible personal property memo, confirm that the memo is completed according to your wishes. It is a small detail that often becomes significant to people sorting through personal items later.

If you hold any testamentary powers of appointment, confirm you have properly exercised them under your Will.

Also consider whether you have a plan for your digital assets and information. This is easy to overlook and hard to fix at the last minute.

Pay Close Attention to Nonprobate Transfers

One of the most common problems in estate planning is not the language of the Will or trust. It is the way assets actually transfer.

Review your nonprobate transfers to ensure they align with the planning under your Will and trust.

Jointly owned assets and TOD or POD accounts pass by survivorship. Review deeds and account titling to ensure alignment with the overall plan.

Retirement accounts, life insurance policies, annuities, and similar assets pass by beneficiary designation. Confirm the status of those beneficiary designations with each institution.

This is not busywork. If titles and beneficiary designations do not match your documents, they can override your documents.

Review Your Trust and Trustee Choices

If you have a revocable living trust, review your Trustee and Co-Trustee appointments, as well as their successors. Confirm your fiduciary is qualified under your state laws and capable of fulfilling the duties. Consider the costs and benefits of appointing a corporate fiduciary.

If you have beneficiaries with special needs, make sure your trust planning reflects that reality.

Review whether your Will pours over into your trust. If the structure relies on a pour over, the pieces should connect cleanly.

Also consider whether you funded your trust during your lifetime, or whether you need to. Consider which assets to convey to the trust and when. Trust-owned assets avoid probate at death, but only if the trust actually holds them.

Another item that deserves attention is the allocation of estate and inheritance tax burdens, including how those burdens are handled for assets passing under your trust.

If you want to add flexibility to your plan, one option is to designate a trust protector. That can allow changes if unforeseen circumstances arise in the future.

It is also worth asking whether you are concerned about a future Will or trust contest. If that concern exists, it belongs in the conversation during a review, not after the fact.

Do Not Skip Powers of Attorney and Health Care Documents

Powers of Attorney do not get much attention until they are needed. Then they become central.

For a General Power of Attorney, confirm the terms. Are the powers effective immediately, or are they springing, meaning contingent upon something like incapacity? Are they durable, meaning they continue beyond incapacity?

Review your appointed agents. If you name multiple agents, confirm whether they may act individually or must act jointly. Joint action can create complexity. If convenience is a priority, you may consider individual agents under concurrent General Powers of Attorney. Confirm successor agents are good back-ups for primary agents. Consider whether you want to limit an agent’s powers. Consider whether there is a need or a good reason to record the General Power of Attorney.

If you have revoked any prior General Powers of Attorney, consider steps to prevent unauthorized action by prior agents. In some cases, recording may be advisable or necessary.

For Health Care Powers of Attorney and Living Wills, review appointed agents with the realities of health care in mind. Local or readily available agents may best serve your needs. If multiple agents are named, confirm whether they act individually or jointly and consider the inefficiencies and disputes that can arise among co-agents.

If you are planning to undergo a health procedure, consider executing the relevant medical institution’s Health Care Power of Attorney form in addition to what you already have.

Confirm HIPAA authorizations. And confirm that your Living Will clearly expresses your wishes about end-of-life treatment options, including instructions regarding artificial nutrition, hydration, palliative care, and life-prolonging procedures in situations such as terminal conditions or vegetative states.

If You Have Irrevocable Trusts, Review Administration

If you have an ILIT, confirm the Trustee is properly administering the trust, premiums are properly paid, and Crummey Notices are timely issued if applicable.

If you have a split-interest trust such as a CRT or CLT, confirm proper administration and that annual payments are correctly calculated and made.

If you have a SLAT or a GRAT, confirm proper administration and that actions do not risk inclusion in your taxable estate.

If you have a QPRT, monitor the term and plan for transfer of ownership, including the possible need to rent back the residence while observing proper formalities.

Confirm that income tax returns are filed adequately for irrevocable trusts and that your actions are consistent with the terms of the trust.

The Real Goal of a Review

A review is not about making everything perfect. It is about reducing avoidable problems.

Confirm the plan is valid where you live. Confirm that the documents are available. Confirm that the people named are still the right fit for the job. Confirm asset transfers match the intent. Confirm your medical wishes are clear.

The best estate plan is not the most complicated one. It is the one that still works when life does what it does.

WHWM is here to guide you in identifying your priorities, developing a plan, and making adjustments along the way. By choosing WHWM, you're partnering with our Founder and President, Stephen Bodwell. As a CPA and CFP® professional, Stephen is committed to helping you achieve your financial goals and aspirations. Don't hesitate to take the next step toward realizing your dreams. Schedule your complimentary, no-obligation 30-minute consultation with Stephen. 

Walnut Hill Wealth Management, LLC (“WHWM”) is a registered investment advisor offering advisory services in the State of Texas and in other jurisdictions where exempt. The information provided is as of the date indicated and is subject to change.