One of the most important things to know about effective estate planning is that it is a process that continues beyond the initial drafting and execution of your documents. This is true because our families and our property are both dynamic and continuously changing.

It may be helpful to think of the estate planning process in two distinct phases. The first phase of estate planning is implementation. This phase is where you have determined the needs to be addressed by your plan and have executed the documents to put the plan into effect. The second phase is monitoring. This is the phase you should continue in after you have implemented your plan, to ensure that it continues to meet your needs as your circumstances change. Generally, there are two areas of your life that you should monitor for estate planning purposes: (1) the personal needs of your family and (2) your ownership and various elections regarding your property. If these things change, as discussed below, you may need to re-enter phase one and implement a modified version of your prior plan.

The following are examples of situations that should alert you that a review of your plan is necessary to ensure that it still meets your needs.

For young families, you should review your plan upon the addition of new children to your family. Your will or trust should name your choice for a guardian for your children in the event that both parents die while your child is a minor. Talk to the friends or family members who you believe are the best candidates, to ensure that they are willing to take on this responsibility before including them in your initial documents and again as you or they have additional children to ensure that they are still up to the task. If your relationship with the individuals you have previously appointed changes due to time, distance or other circumstances in your family or theirs, you may want to amend your documents to alter your appointments.

As families grow and mature, so do potential estate planning issues. In some circumstances, it is possible for parents to assist their children with their personal or financial matters through special needs planning. A frequent topic of discussion in our column is the need for special planning for physically or mentally impaired and chronically or terminally ill children. Furthermore, if you have a child with a substance abuse problem, you can direct the property in such a way that it will be available to meet that child’s needs while protecting it from his or her addiction. The same planning is also available for children who are spendthrifts.

If a child has an unstable marriage or a spouse with a lifestyle or influence over your child that is unhealthy, special planning may help to take the burden off your child and ensure that your assets stay beyond the reach of your child’s spouse. Similar considerations may apply for children with blended families. If you want to ensure that the assets you pass to your child ultimately pass to your biological grandchildren without putting the burden of explanation on your child to negotiate this with his or her spouse, this can be achieved through special planning. On the contrary, if you want to include children or grandchildren that are part of blended families, your documents must include provisions to that effect.

You will also want to periodically review the appointment of your various initial and successor agents in your disability and estate planning documents to ensure that they are still appropriate candidates for the responsibilities conferred by each role. These agents include your personal representative under your will, trustee of your trust, attorneys-in-fact under your powers of attorney and your health care proxy under your living will.

In addition to monitoring your family’s changes over time, you should also be mindful of how your property has changed since your initial plan was drafted. You should periodically review any specific bequests contained in your Will or Trust. You may want to amend your documents if

you no longer own specific personal property you have devised under your documents, or if you have moved or closed accounts that have been identified to fund specific monetary bequests.

Additionally, if you have employed a Trust in your estate plan, you should periodically review title to each asset to ensure that the Trust holds title to all assets that are not passing via beneficiary designations. One of the most attractive features of your trust is that it will allow you to avoid probate, but this is only true if the trust holds title to your assets at your death. Any property that does not pass via beneficiary designation and is titled in your name, individually, and not as Trustee is beyond the scope of the trust and may have to be probated.

Although the federal estate tax exemptions continue to increase, if your net worth has increased significantly, you may need to consider tax planning. The same concept applies if the net worth of a child has increased significantly. Inheritance planning may help them to avoid estate or income taxes.

Remember to keep records of your beneficiary designations for all bank accounts, brokerage accounts, retirement accounts, annuities and life insurance policies. As we have discussed in other articles, these beneficiary designations will govern over any terms of your Will or Trust, so it is important to keep them coordinated with your desired distribution scheme. If you have doubts as to whether you remembered to carry over the desired beneficiary designations the last time that you changed or employed a new bank, broker, or insurer, or if you wish to change beneficiary designation to reflect special planning considerations, you should contact that company and confirm your elections.

Keeping your financial and estate planning information organized can make the monitoring process described in this article very easy to perform every three to four years, or even before if the circumstances dictate. It can also help to ensure that your agents are able to better assist you should they need to act in an emergency. Don’t put off until tomorrow what you could do today when it comes to reviewing your estate plan. A periodic review of your estate plan will help to maximize the future enjoyment of your assets and ensure that your plan is effective and easy to implement when the time comes. To learn more about special financial or estate planning opportunities for special family circumstances or for assistance with beneficiary designations or asset transfers contact your local estate planning attorney.