Annual Estate Planning Checkup

An Estate Plan Is a System, Not a Single Document

Most people think of estate planning as writing a will and being done. In reality a working plan is a set of documents that have to agree with one another: a will that directs your solely owned assets and names an executor and guardians; a financial power of attorney and a healthcare directive that operate while you are alive but incapacitated; beneficiary designations on registered accounts and insurance that pass outside the will; and, for some families, trusts. Each piece governs a different slice of your affairs, and a checkup is about confirming that no slice contradicts another. A will that leaves everything to your children means little if your largest account still names an ex-spouse as beneficiary.

The incapacity documents are the ones people most often omit, and their absence is expensive. A will does nothing while you are alive, so if you lose capacity without a financial power of attorney and a healthcare document, your family may have to apply to court for guardianship (a conservatorship in many US states) — a slow, costly process that a pair of signed documents would have prevented. In Canada these are typically a continuing power of attorney for property and a power of attorney for personal care or your province's equivalent; in the US, a durable financial power of attorney and a healthcare proxy paired with an advance directive. A complete checkup reviews all of these together rather than the will in isolation.

The Life Events That Should Trigger an Immediate Review

Certain events change the ground under an estate plan so completely that you should review everything the moment they happen, not at the next scheduled interval. Marriage and divorce top the list: in several jurisdictions marriage revokes a prior will and divorce automatically removes a former spouse as a beneficiary or executor — but the rules vary, and beneficiary designations on registered accounts and insurance are notoriously overlooked and can keep naming an ex-spouse for years. The birth or adoption of a child creates an urgent need to nominate a guardian and possibly a trust; the death of a spouse, beneficiary, or named executor leaves a hole that has to be filled.

A move to another province or state matters more than people expect. A will valid where it was signed is generally recognized elsewhere, but execution formalities, spousal rights, powers-of-attorney forms, and probate procedures differ, and banks and land registries often prefer local documents. A major change in assets — starting a business, buying property, receiving an inheritance — can also outgrow a plan built for a simpler estate. Even without any of these events, the general rule is to revisit the whole plan every three to five years, because tax rules, family circumstances, and your own wishes all drift over time.

Coordination, Probate Awareness, and Knowing Where Everything Is

Coordination is where checkups deliver the most value. Beneficiary designations override the will for the assets they cover, jointly owned property passes by survivorship regardless of the will, and a trust follows its own terms — so the only way to be sure your estate does what you intend is to look at all of these side by side. Probate awareness belongs in the same review: in Canada, probate fees or estate administration tax are calculated on the value of the estate that passes through probate, and structuring assets thoughtfully can reduce that cost, while in the US most estates fall below the federal estate-tax exemption and owe no federal estate tax at all, though a handful of states levy their own estate or inheritance tax at lower thresholds.

Finally, a plan no one can find is a plan that fails. Your executor and attorneys should know where the original will and powers of attorney are stored and how to access them, and you should keep a current list of accounts, insurers, and digital assets somewhere secure but reachable. Lost original wills routinely delay estates and can even lead a court to presume the will was revoked. A good checkup ends not with a stack of updated documents but with the right people knowing those documents exist and where to find them.

Related: Wills & Estates Wizards · All Wills & Estates Wizards · Will Drafting Readiness Assessment · Do I Need a Power of Attorney? · Charitable Giving in Your Estate Plan · All Legal Wizards