Keep Your Will Up-to-Date

A Last Will and Testament form that was suitable ten years ago may well not be sufficient today. For most people, writing a Legal Will is not a once in a lifetime task. It's important to review and update your Legal Will regularly. Many things can happen that require changes in this important document.

Factors that may necessitate a review of your Will:

• Moving from one state to another
• Change in marital status
• Birth of a child
• Adoption of a child
• Wish to add or change beneficiaries
• Death or incapacitation of one or more beneficiaries
• Death or incapacitation of executor
• Death or incapacitation of person declared as guardian of minor children
• Considerable change in financial status 
• Tax law changes

Keeping your Legal Will up-to-date ensures that your wishes will be carried out in the event of your death, and can keep your beneficiaries from having to engage in costly, emotionally draining and unnecessary court proceedings. Do-it-yourself Last Will and Testament forms such as those on RocketLawyer.com make it easy to implement changes to your Last Will and Testament document any time that you need to do so. If you only need to make a few small changes, you can use a Codicil to Will document, which amends you existing Will rather than creating a whole new one.

If you'd like an attorney to review your Will and other estate planning documents, you can Find a Lawyer on our website to give you a legal review.

Laws on this topic may vary from state to state. This content is not meant to provide you with complete information and it is not intended to be legal or tax advice. It is recommended that you consult with your own attorney, accountant or other advisor regarding your specific situation.