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Estate planning documents must be reviewed every four or five years to ensure that a will and living trust are current. What could change so that your estate planning documents are no longer current? Possible changes in state and federal laws: - State and federal laws are constantly changing, both because Congress and state legislatures make changes and because the courts render decisions that affect tax-saving or estate-planning techniques. - For example, in 2009 the federal estate tax exemption is scheduled to go to $3,500,000. In 2010, estate taxes may be repealed altogether. On the other hand, there is a good possibility that estate taxes may be raised in 2009. Can any of these possibilities by dealt with by flexibility in your old estate plan? Possible changes in personal circumstances: Here are some of the possible changes in personal circumstances that could affect how current are your estate planning documents: - You may have had a new child, or you may have decided to change who you named as the guardian of your children. - You may have gotten divorced or remarried. - You may have received an inheritance, putting your estate into a range where some advanced estate planning techniques would be a benefit. - You may have bought a different house or commercial property and forgotten to transfer that new property into your existing trust. - You may have finally decided who gets Uncle Harry's coin collection or Grandma's china. Your current estate plans can be affected by a number of other changes. Difficulties of going through a review of estate planning documents: For many people, making the decisions required for estate planning documents is difficult. Considering scenarios that can be uncomfortable are often required in order to make these decisions. So when a client has finally signed his or her estate planning documents, there's a big sense of relief - as well as the desire not to think of these decisions again. But there are consequences of not reviewing estate planning documents every few years: If estate plans are not reviewed every few years or a personal situation changes, a surviving spouse or heirs can be in deep muck. It's important to keep estate planning documents current to save loved ones from avoidable problems. The above information is only considerations for you to discuss with your own estate planning attorney; it is NOT legal advice. The providing of this material does not establish an attorney-client relationship.
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For more estate planning information watch the short free video on the home page of Mitchell R. Miller's www.estateplanningforyou.com . You'll learn more about why you need a living trust in addition to a will in order to avoid probate. Mitchell R. Miller has been a tax, trust and estate attorney for over 30 years. EstatePlanningforYou.com is a subsidiary of www.millermosaic.com .
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