In this Parsons Law Talk video, Carla Parsons provides a general overview of the common reasons or triggers which should be a cause for you to undertake a review of your Estate Planning arrangements.

Transcript

Hello, I’m Carla Parsons and welcome to this Parsons Law Talk session, which is really a general overview of some of the things that should prompt you to review your estate planning once you have your arrangements in place. Generally, we’d recommend that you should review your arrangements every 12 months. And by review I mean having a read of your documents and making sure that they still reflect your wishes. There are, however, some things or events in life or change in circumstances which should really be a trigger for you to meet with a legal adviser so that they can formally review your arrangements and you can put changes in place if necessary. 

So some of the circumstances or examples of circumstances that would be a trigger for a review would be perhaps if you were to marry a new partner.  If you had a relationship that came to an end and there was a divorce or separation, if you were blessed with new children born into your family, that would be another reason to have that formal review. 

Other reasons might because you’ve acquired new assets or perhaps you’ve set up some new structures. So a company or a trust or a self managed superannuation fund. That again, would be a reason for you to review your arrangements. 

By way of example, another reason to prompt you to review your arrangements might be if you changed your name, or if an executor or beneficiary in your will changed their name, or if there was a loss or someone were to lose capacity who’s mentioned in your will. Again, they’re the sort of triggers that should see you have a formal review of your estate planning. 

Although this is a general overview, I do think it’s important to just bring to your attention that there are some changes in life which will have an automatic effect on your arrangements. So if you were to marry after you made your will, or divorce after you made your will, this may have an effect on both your will and your enduring power of attorney, and it might cause it to be fully or partially revoked. So it’s certainly a circumstance which should call for a review. If you were to separate or be estranged from a spouse, but not formally divorce, then that again would be another reason to review your arrangements because they might not be affected and you may wish to review them to change who beneficiaries are, who powers of attorney are, and those types of matters. 

As I said at the outset, this is intended to be just a general overview for you. You certainly should meet with a legal adviser to get advice about your particular circumstances, and it’s really important to do so to make sure that your wishes are validly recorded and that you implement any changes that you might need to do. So if they’re not validly recorded at this time, I invite you to visit the website to find out more information or contact Parsons Law and myself, Carla Parsons. 

Thank you.Â