Keeping Your Estate Plan Current: Implementation, Reviews, and Coordination

Completing estate planning documents is not necessarily the end of the estate planning process. 

Families change. Assets change. Children grow older. Financial circumstances evolve. The people originally chosen to handle important responsibilities may no longer be the right choices years later. 

An effective estate plan therefore needs both proper implementation and periodic review to make sure the plan continues to reflect the individual’s circumstances and intentions.

Estate Plans Should Evolve with Your Life 

There is no single timetable that applies to every estate plan. 

Consider parents preparing an estate plan when their children are young. They may initially choose a sibling, parent, or other family member to care for their children if both parents die. 

Ten years later, circumstances may look very different. The children may have deep roots in their community, schools, and friendships. Moving them to another city or state to live with a relative could create significant disruption. At that stage, the parents may decide that someone local would be a more appropriate choice, provided that person is willing to assume the responsibility. 

Financial circumstances can change at the same time. An inheritance that once would have been relatively modest may become substantial as the family’s assets increase. That may change whether parents want assets distributed outright at a particular age or retained in trust. 

Estate planning decisions that were appropriate at one stage of life may therefore need to be reconsidered later. 

Fiduciary Choices May Need to Change 

The people selected to serve in important roles should also be reviewed over time. 

An estate plan may name: 

• a trustee to manage trust assets; 
• an executor to administer an estate;
• an agent under a power of attorney; or
• other individuals responsible for financial or personal decisions. 

When children are young, parents may naturally appoint siblings or other trusted adults. Once their children become financially responsible adults, the children themselves may be appropriate for certain roles. 

The opposite can also happen. Over time, a parent may determine that an adult child is not well suited to managing significant assets. In those circumstances, a professional trustee or another appropriate fiduciary may be considered instead. 

The important point is that fiduciary appointments should reflect current circumstances rather than assumptions made many years earlier. 

How Often Should an Estate Plan Be Reviewed? 

There is no universal interval for updating an estate plan. 

During some stages of life, a professional review of the estate plan every three to five years may be reasonable, while reviews might become more frequent later in life. A significant life event or change in circumstances can also justify revisiting the plan sooner. 

Individuals should also review their own estate plans regularly, including on an annual basis, to consider whether anything material has changed. 

Questions may include: 

• Have you acquired new assets? 
• Are those assets titled as intended? 
• Are beneficiary designations still appropriate? 
• Have family relationships or responsibilities changed? 
• Has someone named in the plan died?
• Are the individuals chosen for fiduciary roles still suitable? 
• Have your care needs or living arrangements changed? 

For example, the need to move into assisted living or nursing care can materially change an individual’s circumstances and may prompt another review of the plan. 

Signing the Documents Does Not Complete the Estate Plan

Implementation is a critical part of estate planning. 

A client may sign every document and understandably believe the process is complete. But if assets have not been titled appropriately or beneficiary designations do not align with the documents, the intended structure may not operate as expected. 

This is especially important for trusts. 

If a trust is intended to receive or hold certain assets, the estate planning process should address how those assets will actually reach the trust. Otherwise, a trust may exist on paper without receiving the property for which it was designed. 

The same principle applies to beneficiary designations. Retirement accounts and other beneficiary-designated assets should be considered as part of the overall plan rather than treated as entirely separate decisions. 

Understanding the Decisions Behind the Documents

Customized estate planning also requires the client to understand the basic choices being made. 

A client does not need to become an estate planning expert, but it is useful to understand fundamental concepts such as: 

• what a will does; 
• what a trust does; 
• the role of a trustee; 
• the role of an executor; 
• the responsibilities of a fiduciary; and 
• the function of an agent under a power of attorney. 

That baseline understanding allows clients to make more informed decisions about who should serve in particular roles and how beneficiaries should receive assets. 

The planning can then address questions such as whether children should receive assets outright or in trust, as well as relevant income tax and estate and gift tax considerations. 

Coordinating Estate Planning With Tax and Business Matters 

Some estate plans also need to account for closely held businesses and multiple areas of tax law. 

For a business owner, planning for death may require consideration of what should happen to the business ownership interest and how succession should be handled. That can connect personal estate planning with corporate legal considerations. 

Depending on the client’s circumstances, the broader planning process may also intersect with personal income tax, corporate or partnership tax, estate and gift tax, and international tax issues. 

Key Takeaways 

• Estate planning is an ongoing process rather than a one-time document exercise. 
• Family circumstances, wealth, assets, and fiduciary choices can change significantly over time. 
• There is no universal schedule for professional estate plan reviews, but individuals should regularly consider whether their plans still reflect their circumstances. 
• New assets, changed beneficiary designations, deaths, care needs, and family developments may all affect an existing estate plan. 
• Signing documents does not complete the process if trusts remain unfunded or asset ownership and beneficiary designations are not properly coordinated. 
• Business ownership and tax considerations may also need to be integrated into the broader estate planning process. 

An estate plan should continue to work as life changes. 

That requires more than periodically updating legal documents. It also means reviewing the people selected to act on your behalf, confirming how assets are owned and designated, completing necessary trust funding, and considering whether tax, business, or cross-border circumstances affect the overall plan. 

The objective is a plan that remains coordinated and continues to reflect what the individual actually wants to accomplish. 

If your estate plan was prepared several years ago, your family, assets, or priorities may have changed since then. Basswood Counsel can help you review your existing estate plan, understand your options, and coordinate the legal, tax, and business considerations relevant to your circumstances.