To live a comfortable life with few worries, you must plan your estate. When you avoid estate planning, you could put your assets at risk. If it matters to you to leave your loved ones something or if you want to preserve your hard-earned assets, you need to check your estate plan regularly.
You should especially give your estate plan a look if you recently went through a divorce.
What should you have in your estate plan?
Your estate plan should have all the documents you need to plan your future and what to do with your assets when you die. For example, your estate plan may include a living will, a health care surrogate, a will and a revocable living trust.
Many people assign their spouses to essential roles within the estate plan. For instance, your ex-spouse could be your power of attorney, your beneficiary on your life insurance policy and the person who inherits your money and your home.
How often should you update the estate plan?
As a rule, look at your estate plan at least once every five years. Following a significant event like a divorce, check your estate plan immediately. If you forget to take your ex out of your estate plan, your children may receive nothing from your estate. Additionally, if you have an ex listed as a guardian for your children, no one can fight it if you do not change it in advance. You do not want to forget about your divorce and have your ex receive benefits from your life insurance policy long after you spoke to him or her.
Whenever you add or lose a family member, check your estate plan to remove or add names.