When Should You Update Your Estate Plan?
Signing your estate plan feels like finishing something, and in one sense it is. But an estate plan is a snapshot of your life on the day you signed it: your family then, your assets then, the law then. Life moves, and a plan that no longer matches your life can misfire as badly as no plan at all, sending property to the wrong people or leaving new loved ones out entirely. The fix is simple: know the triggers, and review on a schedule. A Seattle estate planning attorney at Latterell Law can bring an outdated plan current, often faster than you expect.
The Baseline: Review Every Three to Five Years
Even when nothing dramatic has happened, review your plan every three to five years. Small drifts accumulate: account balances change, named helpers age or move away, relationships evolve, and laws shift quietly. A periodic review usually confirms the plan is fine, and occasionally catches a problem while it is still easy to fix. For a deeper look at review timing, see our article on how often to update your estate plan in Washington.
Family Events That Demand an Update
- Marriage or remarriage. A plan signed before your marriage may not provide for your spouse the way you intend, and Washington law has default rules for omitted spouses that may distribute property differently than either of you would choose. Remarriage with children from prior relationships raises the additional issues covered in our guide to planning for blended families.
- Divorce. Washington law automatically revokes many will and beneficiary provisions in favor of a former spouse, but automatic revocation is a safety net, not a plan: it does not rewrite your documents, fix every account type, or name replacements. Update everything after a divorce, promptly.
- A new child or grandchild. Births and adoptions call for updated guardian nominations, new trust shares, and revised beneficiary structures.
- A death or disability in the plan. If a beneficiary, guardian, personal representative, trustee, or agent dies or can no longer serve, the plan needs new names, especially if you never designated alternates.
- Children growing up. Guardianship provisions written for toddlers give way to distribution ages, incentive structures, and eventually adult children who might serve as your own agents and executors.
Financial and Legal Changes
- A significant change in assets. An inheritance, a business, a home purchase, or simple growth can push your estate into Washington estate tax territory or make old structures obsolete. Washington’s exclusion amount and rates have changed repeatedly in recent years, and plans drafted around the old $2.193 million exclusion, or funded with outdated formulas, deserve a fresh look against the current rules in our estate tax overview.
- Buying property or opening accounts. New assets do not add themselves to your trust. Every new deed and account should be checked against your plan, and every beneficiary form kept current, as our beneficiary designations guide explains.
- Moving to or from Washington. Estate planning is state law. Moving into Washington brings community property rules, the state estate tax, and different document requirements; moving away raises the reverse questions. Plans should be reviewed after any interstate move, in either direction.
- Changes in the law itself. Tax thresholds, trust statutes, and probate rules evolve. This is the trigger you cannot see coming on your own, and one of the best reasons for periodic professional reviews.
What a Review Actually Involves
Most reviews are lighter than people fear. We look at four things: whether the right people are named in every role, whether the distribution plan still matches your wishes, whether assets and beneficiary designations line up with the documents, and whether law changes affect your structure. Often the answer is a short amendment, a codicil, or a few updated forms rather than a rebuilt plan. When more is needed, restating a trust or executing a new will is routine work that preserves everything worth keeping.
Keep Your Plan as Current as Your Life
An estate plan you review is a promise you keep. Latterell Law founder Angel M. Latterell has helped Washington families create and maintain their plans for more than 20 years, building long-term relationships so plans stay current as lives change. Whether your documents are three years old or twenty, contact Latterell Law today to schedule a review.
