Creating an estate plan is one of the most important financial decisions you will make. But finishing your plan is not the end of the process. Life changes, laws change, and the documents you put in place five or ten years ago may no longer reflect your wishes, protect your family, or take advantage of current legal opportunities.
Estate planning attorneys generally recommend reviewing your plan every three to five years at minimum, and immediately after any major life event. The goal is not to start from scratch each time. It is to make sure your existing plan still works the way you intend.
At JEFFREY BURR Law Firm, we regularly help clients in Las Vegas and Henderson review and update estate plans that were created years or even decades ago. In many cases, a relatively simple update prevents a much larger problem down the road.
Certain life changes have a direct impact on who inherits your assets, who makes decisions on your behalf, and how your estate is taxed. If any of the following events apply to you, it is time to schedule a review with your attorney.
Getting married typically means you want to include your spouse in your estate plan as a beneficiary, power of attorney agent, or healthcare directive representative. Divorce is even more critical. In Nevada, divorce does not automatically remove your ex-spouse from your trust, beneficiary designations, or powers of attorney. If you do not update these documents, your ex-spouse may still inherit assets or make medical decisions on your behalf.
A new child or grandchild means you need to update beneficiary designations, consider guardianship provisions in your will, and potentially adjust trust distributions. If you have a revocable living trust, you may need to add the child as a beneficiary or create a sub-trust that manages their inheritance until they reach a certain age.
If someone named in your estate plan passes away, you need to update your documents to name successor beneficiaries, adjust distributions, and potentially restructure your trust. Failing to do so can leave assets in limbo or trigger unintended probate proceedings.
Buying or selling a home, receiving an inheritance, starting or selling a business, or any major change in your financial picture should trigger a review. Assets that are not properly titled in the name of your trust will likely go through probate, even if your trust documents are perfectly drafted. This is one of the most common estate planning mistakes.
Estate planning laws vary significantly from state to state. If you move to Nevada from California, for example, your California-drafted documents may not take full advantage of Nevada's superior asset protection statutes, favorable trust laws, or lack of state income tax. An attorney licensed in your new state should review your plan to ensure it complies with local law and leverages available benefits.
A new health diagnosis, particularly one that may affect your cognitive capacity over time, makes it urgent to review your healthcare directive, powers of attorney, and trust provisions. These documents must be in place while you are still legally competent to sign them. Waiting too long can mean losing the ability to make these decisions yourself.
Legal and Tax Changes That Affect Your Estate PlanEven if your personal circumstances have not changed, the legal landscape may have. Estate and tax laws are updated frequently, and changes at the federal or state level can significantly impact your plan.
Nevada has also made legislative changes over the years that create new planning opportunities. Updates to trust statutes, LLC protections, and community property rules may benefit you if your plan has not been reviewed in several years.
A review does not mean rewriting everything from scratch. In most cases, your attorney will review your current documents, discuss any life or financial changes, and recommend targeted updates. Common updates include changing beneficiary designations, updating trustee or agent appointments, re-titling new assets into your trust, adjusting distribution provisions for children who have grown up, and adding or modifying asset protection strategies.
If your plan was created by another attorney or in another state, a review may also include ensuring your documents comply with Nevada law. In some cases, your attorney may recommend restating your trust (essentially updating the entire document while keeping the same trust in place) rather than adding multiple amendments that can create confusion.
The review process is typically straightforward and far less expensive than creating a plan from scratch. At Jeffrey Burr, we view it as routine maintenance that protects everything your original plan was designed to accomplish.
An outdated estate plan can create the same problems as having no plan at all. Here are some of the most common consequences of failing to update your documents:
Your ex-spouse inherits assets or retains decision-making authority. This is surprisingly common in Nevada and results from failing to update beneficiary designations and powers of attorney after divorce.
New children or grandchildren are unintentionally excluded. If your trust was created before a child was born and does not include language covering after-born descendants, that child may not inherit as you intended.
Assets go through probate because they were never re-titled into your trust. Real estate purchased after your trust was created is the most common culprit. If the deed is in your personal name instead of your trust's name, it will require probate.
Your estate pays more in taxes than necessary. Without updates to reflect current exemption amounts and tax strategies, your family may lose hundreds of thousands of dollars to avoidable estate taxes.
At minimum, review your estate plan every three to five years. You should also review it immediately after any major life event such as marriage, divorce, the birth of a child, a significant change in assets, a move to a new state, or a change in health. Regular reviews ensure your plan reflects your current wishes and complies with current law.
Yes. Changes in estate tax law, trust statutes, and asset protection regulations can significantly affect your plan.
In most cases, yes. A trust amendment allows you to make specific changes to your existing trust without replacing the entire document. For more extensive updates, your attorney may recommend a trust restatement, which replaces the trust terms while keeping the original trust entity intact. This avoids the need to re-title assets into a new trust.
If you have moved to Nevada, your out-of-state estate plan may still be valid, but it likely does not take full advantage of Nevada's favorable trust laws, asset protection statutes, and tax benefits. A Nevada attorney can review your existing plan and recommend updates or a restatement to optimize it for Nevada law.
If it has been more than a few years since you last reviewed your estate plan, or if you have experienced any of the life events described above, now is the time to schedule a review. The attorneys at JEFFREY BURR Law Firm have more than 40 years of experience helping clients in Las Vegas and Henderson keep their estate plans current and effective. Call one of our offices today to schedule a free consultation.
This page is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Laws change; consult a licensed Nevada attorney for advice specific to your situation.
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