With its cooler temperatures and wetter weather, winter can take a toll on the cleanliness of any house. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that many Americans use spring to spruce up their homes. In fact, according to the American Cleaning Institute, more than 75% of U.S. households participate in annual spring cleaning.
While making your home shine is a worthwhile endeavor, you also may want to apply your spring cleaning to your estate plan. After all, because of the simple passage of time, your estate plan may no longer reflect your genuine intentions. Even worse, it may leave part of your wealth to someone who is no longer important to you.
Schedule an annual review
Whether your estate plan is simple or complex, you probably cannot remember exactly what it says. By scheduling an annual review during the springtime, you remain familiar with the terms of your estate plan. You also have an opportunity to update your plan to make it match your end-of-life goals.
Rework your beneficiaries
If you have married, divorced or otherwise changed the makeup of your family during the past year, you may have some beneficiaries both to add and to delete from your estate plan. By rethinking your beneficiaries every year, you ensure your assets end up where you want them to go.
Have planning conversations
It may make sense to tell those closest to you about your estate planning goals. Fortunately, spring and summer often offer many opportunities to meet with your close relatives and friends. By looking at your estate plan in the spring, you are ready to have important conversations.
Ultimately, just as spring cleaning is good for your home, it also helps you remove some of the cobwebs from your estate plan.