Imagine you’re given this equation to solve: x + y = z. The catch is that you aren’t given the values of x, y, or z.
When we create your estate planning documents, our goal is to ensure that your wishes are honored and your family is taken care of after you pass away. The difficulty is that these documents are often prepared decades before they are ultimately needed. Several unknowns make estate planning particularly tricky:
a) Time: Your estate plan will come into effect at an unknown date – when you pass away or become incapacitated.
b) Laws: Estate laws change over time.
c) Assets: Your wealth will likely change over time.
d) Family situation: Relationships may shift, and family dynamics will change.
e) Personal wishes: Your priorities and legacy goals could evolve.
With all of these unknown variables, how can you be sure that your estate plan will be current and enforceable at the time you ultimately need it?
The only way to solve this estate planning equation is to periodically update these variables as they become known and evolve. Maintenance on your estate plan is just as vital as maintenance on your car – otherwise it simply won’t work when you need it to. After failing to update your documents due to a desire to avoid legal fees, leaving an outdated plan at your passing may end up incurring many times the fees due to probate or expensive legal workarounds. While maintaining your estate plan does have a cost, it’s certainly more expensive to fail to update it.
To make estate plan maintenance a seamless and affordable process, our firm offers a variety of Maintenance Plans. When enrolled in a Maintenance Plan at Heirloom, our firm proactively reaches out to you periodically to review your documents and discuss your updated life circumstances, and we enact any small changes free of charge. We are committed to guaranteeing that your estate plan will remain current and effective when it matters most.