Putting Your Estate in Order

When is the last time you reviewed your estate plan? Do you have a will?

According to a recent survey by the ¹Harris Poll, 64% of Americans do not have a will. Why? The most common reason mentioned was that “they hadn’t gotten around to it yet.” If you have a will, when is the last time you reviewed it? Due to estate law changes in the last five years, there is a good possibility that a will that was drafted more than five years ago needs to be revised.

In addition, when is the last time you reviewed your beneficiary designations in your 401(k)s, IRAs, life insurance policies and annuities? One of the most common estate planning mistakes is not making sure that beneficiary designations are in order. Many people believe that the will governs everything about their estate and don’t worry about regularly reviewing their various beneficiary designations. In fact, if your beneficiary designations differ from what is expressed in your will, the beneficiary designations specified in your retirement plans or insurance policies will trump the will.

Every August, Susan Moore of Moore Wealth Management in Montgomery, conducts a free estate planning workshop in a Webinar format. The workshop covers a number of issues, including a review of the various legal documents involved in estate planning such as wills, durable powers of attorney, advanced healthcare directives, revocable and irrevocable trusts. Beneficiary designations are a great tool, properly used, in estate planning.