How often should I update my will?
There is no hard and fast rule for when to update a will. It’s my opinion, however, that every five years is a reasonable amount of time for an outside time limit for will updates.
So when should you update a will inside of five years? Here’s a good list of occasions to consider updating your will:
- marriage
- divorce
- childbirth
- adoption
- death of person named in your will
- health issues
- financial changes
- desire to add in new beneficiary
- remove existing beneficiary
- name new trustees or executors
- changes in laws pertaining to estate planning
- starting a new small business
- stopping a small business
- receiving an inheritance
- increase in income
- decrease in the Federal estate tax exemption