While it’s recommended that you review your estate planning documents every 3 to 5 years, it’s not uncommon for many people to wait longer, or to only revisit their plan when a major life event takes place. That can lead to problems when what you’ve got down on paper no longer reflects the circumstances of your life.
A good review doesn’t have to be a dramatic overhaul. It should be about confirming that things are as you want them to be—that you’ve made clear who should inherit, who will represent you when you’ve passed, and how they should carry out your wishes.
Here are some questions to ask yourself when reviewing your estate plan.
1. Do you have all the necessary documents?
A basic estate plan typically includes a will, a revocable trust, a financial power of attorney, and a health care power of attorney (or “proxy”). These documents help to ensure that your wishes and preferences are clearly understood, and that, in the event of your death or a debilitating illness, there will be someone who is legally empowered to make important decisions on your behalf regarding your health care and finances. If for whatever reason you haven’t already drafted one or more of these documents as a part of your estate planning process, it may be worth doing so now.
Additionally, if you have a child who has recently aged into adulthood but has not yet married, you may want to consider having a health care proxy drafted for them—otherwise, you may have no control over their care if they experience a medical issue that leaves them incapacitated.
2. Do you need to name a new executor or trustee?
If you already have a will or trust, this may be a good time to check whether or not the people you have named as your executor or trustee are still the best fit for those distinct roles. It’s possible that, since you selected them, they’ve aged or moved away, or perhaps your financial circumstances have evolved and you require a different set of skills in those positions. Making sure these important roles are filled by willing, capable people who you feel you can rely on in the event of an emergency is a critical part of helping to ensure that your estate plan is effective.
3. Should you add a letter of intent?
A letter of intent (also known as a “side letter”) is a document that provides additional context and guidance to the executor of a will or trustee of a trust and helps clarify the grantor's intentions. It’s not legally binding, and it’s important to work with an attorney to help ensure that it does not conflict with what’s specified in your will or trust, but when drafted properly can add important context so your loved ones can better understand why you arranged things the way you did.
4. Has your marital status changed?
Changes in marital status can have a significant effect on your estate plan. If you’ve been married or divorced recently, or experienced the loss of your partner, it’s especially important to ensure your plan is revised to reflect your new circumstances. Furthermore, if you have remarried and both you and your new spouse have children from your previous marriages, you may want to be especially specific about how assets are meant to be distributed among them. While blended families can present complexities, a well-drafted estate plan can help to avoid unintended consequences.
You and your partner may also want to have a conversation about drafting a pre- or post-nuptial agreement. While these conversations can be difficult, they are also an opportunity to be frank and forthright about one another’s finances and, ultimately, can lead to greater understanding between you and your partner.
5. Have you had any new children or grandchildren?
While there are many reasons people draft an estate plan, one of the most important is the desire to make sure one’s family is taken care of after our deaths. But the plan can only help those who are included in it. This means that it is imperative to update plans to reflect the current composition of your family, whatever that might be. If you’ve been blessed with new children or grandchildren since you last updated your estate plan, this is your chance to make sure they are included in a manner that you feel is appropriate. And if any of your children have reached the age of maturity since your last update, you may wish to adjust how they are treated in the plan now that they are no longer minors.
6. Have you moved to a new state?
If you’ve moved from one state to another since you last reviewed your estate plan, it may be wise to examine whether the laws of your new state differ significantly from the state in which you lived when the plan was first drafted. For instance, if you’ve moved to a state that has a state-level estate tax or its own inheritance tax, you will likely need to update the tax provisions of your estate plan with that in mind.
7. Have you recently received a substantial windfall?
Big changes to your net worth warrant consideration. If you’ve come into an inheritance, received large equity-based awards as part of your compensation, or sold a business, you may need to determine where those new funds should ultimately go. Similarly, decisions you’ve previously made may need to be revised and may require you to reallocate how your remaining money is to be distributed.
8. Have you acquired any major assets?
If you’ve acquired or lost any important assets, now is the time to address them. Major purchases or sales related to real estate (such as your primary residence or a vacation home) or other valuables (including collectibles, heirlooms, or other items of personal significance) should be reflected in your documents.
9. Are your assets titled appropriately?
Properly titling assets can help ensure that important holdings, such as your home, can pass easily to your preferred inheritor, avoiding the time-consuming and often expensive probate process. For example, titling real estate assets, bank accounts, and brokerage accounts as “joint tenants with rights of survivorship” (JTWROS) or “joint tenants by the entirety” can help ensure that your co-owner, presumably your spouse or partner, can inherit the asset directly.
10. Have you named beneficiaries for all your accounts?
Beneficiary designations are another way to avoid the probate process. Make sure you have named beneficiaries for any bank, brokerage, or retirement accounts, as well as any life insurance policies you may have. If you have named beneficiaries already, review them to make sure they are accurate and that you also have backup or contingent beneficiaries named in the event your primary beneficiaries predecease you.
This is an especially important step, because, as with asset titling, beneficiary designations will supersede provisions in your will or trust. For example, perhaps you named your first child as the beneficiary of an IRA at the time of their birth but failed to add your second child when they were born. Even if your revocable trust specifies that the IRA is to be divided equally, only your first child will inherit the assets in the account, because they are the only designated beneficiary. It’s vitally important that decisions around titling and beneficiary designations are harmonized with your will and any trusts you may form.
11. Does your plan reflect recent changes in tax law?
In the last decade, major legislation such as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017, the SECURE Act of 2019, the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022, and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) of 2025 have brought about big changes to how people are taxed and how retirement accounts are treated. You should consult with a financial and tax professional to see if any of the changes brought about by these bills could have an impact on your plan, and to determine whether any action is necessary to bring your plan up to date.
12. Have you spoken to your family about your plan?
Communicating with the people who you wish to inherit your estate and those who you expect to fill the roles necessary to carry out your plan is an important piece of the puzzle. While you don’t have to go into great detail about your intentions if you feel it’s not appropriate, some degree of discussion can be helpful. You may discover things you hadn’t considered, things that may lead you to make adjustments that better suit their needs and make you feel better about whether or not you are providing for them appropriately in the future.
13. Does your family know where to find your documents?
Perhaps most importantly, this is an opportunity to let them know that you have a plan and that it is available to them when the time comes. Have everything organized and in an easily accessible place. That way, when the time comes, your family doesn’t have to go on a scavenger hunt in search of your estate planning documents.