Six Reasons To Update Your Will
Having a will helps to avoid lengthy probate court proceedings, conveys your final wishes, and ensures loved ones are provided for properly. However, your will is only effective in achieving these goals if it is updated regularly. Our Tampa wills attorney highlights six important areas to consider.
Updating Your Will To Reflect Your Current Life And Relationships
A will is an important legal document that everyone should have in place. It provides guidance for your survivors regarding your final wishes and the disposition of your estate while helping to avoid time-consuming and potentially costly Hillsborough Probate Court proceedings. However, once you put a will in place, you still need to review it regularly. The following are six common areas where you may need to make updates:
- Changes in income or earnings.
Depending on when you created your will, your income and earnings may have fluctuated dramatically. Make sure your will accurately depicts your current financial status and changes in accounts or other holdings you have as a result.
- Changes in the amount of property and assets you possess.
Have you bought a house, a car, new furniture, or invested in jewelry and other types of personal property? Started a business, bought digital currency, or made other investments? Make sure your will reflects these changes.
- Births and deaths in your family.
Your will generally provides a guide for making distributions among heirs. These could change if there have been any recent births or deaths in your family. While the Florida Statutes generally include provisions regarding the rights of children, parents, or other relatives of beneficiaries, it is still important to address these directly as part of your will.
- Getting married or divorced.
Getting married or divorced should automatically prompt you to make changes to estate planning documents. While a new spouse may be automatically entitled to an elective share under state laws, it is still important to detail their specific rights in the event of your death. Likewise, you will want to update your will if your marriage eventually breaks up, generally prior to a final divorce order being issued.
- Changes in relationships with other family and friends.
Relationships with other family members and friends can change over the passage of years. As a result, you may want to make changes to your personal representative or those named as beneficiaries.
- Changes in your interests or perspective.
Changes in your interests or perspective on life can prompt changes to estate planning documents. For example, rather than providing for loved ones who are already financially secure, you may wish to leave money for non-profits or charitable organizations instead.
Discuss Your Options With Our Tampa Wills Attorney
Putting a will in place is one of the most basic but important estate planning tasks. Once you create one, be sure and update it regularly. To discuss your options, contact Strategic Counsel Law Group, L.C., and request a consultation with our Tampa wills attorney.
Sources:
hillsclerk.com/court-services/probate-guardianship-and-trust
leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0700-0799/0732/0732PARTVContentsIndex.html
