Why You May Need to Update Your Will Now Changes in tax law and also in your personal life may mean that yours needs to be updated. Here, the easiest (and smartest) ways to do it. BY CARLA FRIED ■ ■ ■ ILLUSTRATIONS BY KLAWE RZECZY
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OHN T. MIDGET T, an estate planning attorney in Virginia Beach, Va., recently met new clients who shared that they hadn’t eyeballed their will since their daughter was 2 years old. She’s now 54. “Just a few things have happened in their family’s life since then—and tax law has changed a lot too,” says Midgett, presidentelect of the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils (NAEPC). Even if it has been less than 50 years since you last looked at your estate plan, you’re going to want to update it, not just because you may have some changes in
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your family situation but also because federal estate law has been altered, especially in the past 12 years. For example, you’ll want to revise your will if any of the following apply to you: ■ You drew it up before 2001. The amount you can leave your heirs without paying federal tax has increased significantly, from $675,000 in 2001 to more than $12 million in 2022. ■ You’ve moved to a new state where the estate tax exemption is higher (Connecticut’s, for example, is $9.1 million) or lower (Oregon’s is only $1 million).
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