These simple questions can help make sure your estate plan is ready for all of 2017.

With the New Year here, it’s a good time to make sure your estate plan reflects any life changes and legal decisions you made last year. Here are a few simple questions that are a great place to start making sure your estate plan is up to date.

Have you had any recent life changes?

Events like marriages, divorces, births, adoptions, relocations, deaths, and acquisitions of sudden wealth may have affected your overall goals and who you’d like as named beneficiaries. Make sure that your plan represents your wishes in regards to these changes. 

Are your assets still going where you intend?

Is your personal representative and/or trustee going to be an individual or a corporate institution? Who do you want to ultimately receive your trust/will assets?

Who should handle your important affairs?

In the event of your incapacitation, who should attend to your financial and business matters? Review the financial power of attorney designations laid out in your plan. Is financial power of attorney presently exercisable or becoming exercisable only if you’re unable to handle your own affairs? Does this decision still align with your wishes?

As you’re checking off items on your New Years’ to-do list, be sure that updating your estate plan is one of them. Talk to your financial advisor and a legal professional about questions you have and updates you’d like to make.