Quick Overview (TL;DR): How Life Events Should Trigger an Estate Plan Review
- Estate planning is not a one‑time task; major life events should trigger a review of your plan.
- Retirement, moving, births/deaths/incapacity, and marriage (especially blended families) can all make existing documents outdated.
- Failing to update your plan can lead to unintentional disinheritance, outdated agents, and surprise probate.
- A simple checklist helps you review decision makers, beneficiary designations, real estate titles, and long‑term care plans.
- If you’ve experienced a recent life change, get a professional review—especially if you live in Virginia and can attend Promise Law’s free estate planning workshop.
Table of Contents
- Pete and Jan: A Cautionary Story
- Life Events That Should Prompt an Estate Plan Review
- The Problems With Waiting
- Update Your Estate Plan—with a Checklist
- A Special Note for Service Members (Current, Retired, and Disabled Veterans)
- When to Call an Attorney
- Frequently Asked Questions
Pete and Jan: A Cautionary Story
Pete and Jan are planners.
In their late 50s, they met with an estate planning firm, and went through the Ultimate Estate Planning Checklist. They took their time thoughtfully answering questions and creating legal documents. They had the hard conversations with their loved ones about who would take care of what and when.
And then they went back to their lives.
Pete and Jan are now in their 70s, and things have changed. Pete retired with a nice pension, Jan began taking Social Security, they invested in a beach condo, and they just welcomed their third grandchild.
Their lives look very different than they did fifteen years ago, but their estate plan hasn’t changed. And that’s a problem.
An estate plan is a living tool, not a one-time document. It’s designed to change and grow with your life circumstances, but it can only do that if you review and update it regularly.
This article will:
- Outline the life changes that necessitate an estate plan review
- List the dangers of putting it off
- Offer a checklist to follow, so you don’t miss a thing!
Don’t wait until you’re in Pete and Jan’s situation.
At our FREE on-demand estate planning workshop, we walk through real-life scenarios, common mistakes, and the exact updates to consider after major life changes.
Life Events that Should Prompt an Estate Plan Review
Here are some common major life events that can affect your estate plan:
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Retirement (Full or Partial)
Your financial situation often changes drastically when you retire. That regular paycheck from your 9 to 5 is a thing of the past, but that doesn’t necessarily make your financial life less complicated. In fact, many retirees draw income from several different sources—pensions, Social Security, retirement accounts, etc.—which can make things even more complicated.
Income streams like retirement accounts often change over time, growing in overall value even as their owners begin drawing on them.
Retirement is a perfect time to review your estate plan and make sure that you’ve considered the true value of all of your income and accounts.
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Moving (or Becoming a “Snowbird”)
In the United States, laws and regulations vary from state to state, so after you’ve moved to another state, you’ll need to check that your older documents are still valid and functional. This can affect Wills, powers of attorney, advance medical directives, Trusts, etc.
You may also want to consider the people you’ve chosen to handle things for you and whether they can reach you quickly in your new location.
If you’ve become a “snowbird,” you’ll need to update your estate plan to reflect your new real estate and tax information.
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Births, Deaths, and Incapacity
A new grandchild is cause for celebration . . . and for reviewing your estate plan. Whether you want to help with a child’s education or just make things fair among siblings, you’ll need to make sure you include your instructions in your official documents.
Likewise, when a loved one passes, you may need to rethink your plans about inheritance, powers of attorney, or medical directives. Legal safeguards exist if a beneficiary or decision-maker dies, but choosing your own people is always a better option.
You will also need to re-work some documents if one of your decision-makers becomes incapacitated, to ensure that your wishes can be carried out effectively.
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Marriage
Joining two people—and often, two households—creates new situations that require new plans.
Blended families, whether they have been together for 5 years or 50, should check that their documents accurately reflect their desires. Often, the “standard procedure” for inheritance doesn’t take blended families into account, so you may need additional documents in your estate plan.
Also, be aware of so-called “I love you” Wills, where both spouses leave everything to each other, with the understanding (but not promise) that their children will eventually inherit it all. These are simple and easy to make, but they can create problems if one spouse outlives the other and eventually wants to remarry. It’s possible to disinherit biological children (even accidentally!) and not fulfill the expectations of stepchildren or half-siblings, all at the same time.
As with any major life change, clarity and communication are the keys to keeping the peace.
Read more about Blended Families and Estate Planning here
The Problems with Waiting
Pete and Jan are enjoying their 70s—spending time with family, visiting their beach condo, meeting friends for lunch—but suddenly Pete’s health declines, fast. They never got around to updating their estate plan, and now, Pete can’t sign new documents. What consequences might they face?
- Unintentional disinheritance—If Pete left everything to Jan, she can give it to whoever she wishes, even if it’s not what he would have wanted.
- Outdated agents—Pete’s healthcare decisions may rest solely on Jan (who isn’t feeling too great herself), or they may have given their now estranged child power of attorney.
- Surprise probate—Pete and Jan created a Trust twenty years ago, but they didn’t include their new beach condo, which is in Pete’s name. So now Jan has to go down to the courthouse.
These are exactly the types of avoidable problems that regular estate plan reviews are meant to prevent.
Update Your Estate Plan—with a Checklist!
Let’s go through those major life events one at a time:
Retirement Checklist
- Review your decision makers—Are your agents still the right people to carry out your wishes? Double-check all your power of attorney documents.
- Check your accounts—Make sure your retirement accounts and life insurance policies have the right beneficiary designations, and that you know where the money is going.
- Confirm long-term care plans—Do your documents still match your desires for long-term care? How will your accounts and/or property be used to pay for it?
Moving Checklist
- Learn the new rules—Find a trusted attorney who knows the laws in your new state, and have them review all of your documents, including Wills, powers of attorney, and medical directives.
- Review your decision makers—Do your agents still make sense with your new location? Can they reach you easily in a crisis?
- Review real estate titles—Don’t forget to check both primary and secondary residences, especially if you’re a “snowbird!”
- Double-check beneficiary designations—Some accounts, like retirement and transfer-on-death accounts, have state-specific rules for beneficiaries.
Births, Deaths, Incapacity Checklist
- Birth (or Adoption)—Add that new grandchild to your Will, Trust, or other provision for the grandkids.
- Death—Choose a new beneficiary or decision maker, and review all of your documents to make sure they make sense going forward.
- Incapacity—Find a new agent or trustee, have the hard conversation, and update powers of attorney, Trust documents, etc.
Marriage Checklist
- Check “I love you” provisions—Do you still want everything to go to your spouse, or do you want to build in protections for children or stepchildren?
- Plan for a blended family—Revisit all documents and consider creating new ones that reflect your new reality.
A Special Note for Service Members (Current, Retired, and Disabled Veterans)
Many service members create basic powers of attorney documents and Wills when they deploy, and it’s so important to review and update these as your life changes. In addition to the other checklist items, consider:
- Decision makers—Have you moved since you signed your power of attorney? Do your choices still make sense, or do you want to give those powers to someone else?
- Property tax exemption—Under current Virginia law, you can keep your real estate tax exemption even if you put your property in a Trust.
When to Call an Attorney
Taking care of Wills, checklists, contact information, and beneficiary designations is often doable for most people, but if you have any other documents, and you run into major life events after you’ve set up an estate plan, it’s time for a professional review.
Estate planning is designed to grow and change with you, making sure all of your accounts, properties, and documents work together towards your goals.
If you’ve recently gone through a life change, find an attorney you can trust and get your documents reviewed. Even a one-time checkup can save you and your loved ones from confusion and conflict later.
If you live in Virginia and your life looks different than it did when you signed your Will or Trust, now is the time to review it.
Join Promise Law’s FREE on-demand workshop to understand what still works, what doesn’t, and what to do next. You will receive a complimentary consultation with an attorney when you complete the video.
Sign up for our on-demand workshop today!
Frequently Asked Questions
Most people should review their estate plan every 3–5 years, or whenever they experience a major life event such as retirement, a move to a new state, a birth or death in the family, a diagnosis affecting capacity, or a marriage/divorce. A quick checkup can catch small changes before they create big problems.
If you don’t update your plan, you risk unintentional disinheritance, outdated decision makers, and assets being forced through probate. For example, a new property that isn’t titled correctly or added to your Trust can end up in court, even if you thought “everything” was covered.
You may not always need a brand new Will, but you do need an attorney in your new state to review it. Different states have different rules about Wills, powers of attorney, advance medical directives, and even beneficiary designations, so a review helps ensure your existing documents will actually work where you now live.
Blended families often make “standard” estate plans risky. Simple “I love you” Wills, where each spouse leaves everything to the other, can unintentionally disinherit children, stepchildren, or half siblings. If you have a blended family, it’s especially important to create a plan that clearly reflects your wishes and protects all of the people you care about.
Basic Wills and powers of attorney created for deployment are a good starting point, but they often don’t account for later life changes like marriage, children, disability, or buying a home. If you’re a current service member, retiree, or disabled veteran, you should have your documents reviewed in light of your current circumstances and any state specific benefits you may have.
Bring copies of your current estate planning documents (Will, Trusts, powers of attorney, advance medical directives), a list of your major accounts and properties, beneficiary designations for retirement and life insurance, and any recent changes in your family or health. This helps the attorney quickly see where updates are needed.
You can often update things like contact information and some beneficiary designations on your own. But when you have a Trust, own multiple properties, have a blended family, or have experienced a significant life change, working with an attorney helps ensure all of your documents work together and comply with current state law.
