When Was the Last Time You Reviewed Your Estate Plan?

Estate planning isn’t a “set it and forget it” task. Yet for many families, once documents are signed and filed away, they are not reviewed for years or decades. Life changes, laws change, and financial situations evolve. Without regular reviews, even a well-designed estate plan can quietly drift out of alignment with your intentions.

At Financial Life Advisors, we believe estate planning isn’t just about documents; it’s about outcomes. Reviewing your estate plan regularly helps ensure your wishes are carried out, your loved ones are protected, and your financial plan works in harmony with your legacy goals.

Life Changes Faster Than Your Documents

A proper estate plan review should be triggered by changes such as:

• Marriage, divorce, or remarriage

• Birth or adoption of children or grandchildren

• Death or incapacity of a beneficiary, trustee, or executor

• A move to a new state

• Significant changes in assets, income, or business ownership
  

Without updates, your beneficiary designations, trust language, or account titling may no longer reflect your current priorities. This can potentially create confusion, delays, or unintended outcomes for your family.

Estate Plans Don’t Implement Themselves

One of the most common and costly mistakes we see is assuming estate planning documents alone do the work. Your estate plan must be properly implemented across your entire financial life.

That includes:

• Correctly titling accounts and funding trusts

• Aligning beneficiary designations with trust documents

• Ensuring retirement accounts and insurance policies coordinate with your plan

• Reviewing asset ownership as balances and strategies change

• Letting the people named in your documents (executors, trustees, agents, guardians, etc.) know that they are named and who to contact if something happens. 
  

An outdated beneficiary designation can override even the most carefully drafted trust. Regular reviews help ensure that what’s written on paper matches what’s happening in real life.

Tax Laws and Planning Strategies Change

Estate and tax laws are not static. Exemptions, thresholds, and planning opportunities evolve, and those changes can significantly impact how much of your wealth ultimately transfers to your heirs.

A periodic estate planning review allows you to:

• Evaluate whether your plan still reflects current tax laws

• Identify opportunities to reduce estate or income tax exposure

• Adjust gifting or trust strategies as exemptions change

• Confirm your plan still supports charitable or legacy goals
  

Even if laws remain unchanged, growth in assets alone can have an impact on your overall estate plan and how your assets are taxed. 

Coordination Creates Clarity and Confidence

Estate planning works best when your financial plan and estate plan tell the same story. When they don’t, problems tend to show up at the worst possible times.

By reviewing your estate plan alongside your financial plan, you gain:

• Confidence that assets are titled intentionally

• Assurance that if something happened to you, your wishes are clear and can be carried out easily. 

• Clarity around who does what, and what happens next, so your family isn’t left guessing, and conflict can be avoided. 
  

How Often Should You Review Your Estate Plan?

As a general guideline, your estate plan should be reviewed:

• Every 3–5 years, even if nothing major has changed

• Immediately after a significant life event

• When assets or tax laws meaningfully change
  

An estate plan review doesn’t always mean rewriting documents. Often, it’s about confirming alignment and making thoughtful updates to keep everything working together.

Planning That Protects What Matters Most

Your estate plan is much more than documents collecting dust in a safe. It’s a reflection of your values, your priorities, and the people you care about most. Regular reviews help ensure your intentions remain clear and your plan remains effective.

At Financial Life Advisors, we help connect estate planning decisions to the bigger financial picture, so your plan stays purposeful, coordinated, and built for real life. Please see the FLA Resources Page to see our Sample Financial Plan summary for Mr. & Mrs. Smith and their Estate Plan Review included as part of their comprehensive plan.

Scott Leavitt, CFP®