3 Signs You Should Update Your Estate Plan

Each new year brings fresh goals, new beginnings, and, ideally, a quick check-in on your estate plan. Whether you have a will-based or a trust-based estate plan, it’s important to ensure everything still reflects your current life, your current wishes, and the people you trust most.

At The Law Office of Kevin R. Hancock, we encourage all of our clients to review their estate plan at least once a year—or sooner if major life changes occur. Below are the most common questions you should ask yourself to know if it’s time to update your estate plan.

1. Does the distribution of your estate still reflect your wishes and goals?

Estate plans are very rarely static – ideally, they grow, develop, and change throughout your life. The structure of your distribution may change – maybe children show more or less maturity than could have been predicted. Maybe you’ve decided to be more charitably inclined over the years. Maybe your intent has changed and you wish to provide directly for grandchildren. 

Regardless of the types of changes, it is important to review documents to ensure your wishes are still reflected as we don’t expect your wishes to stay the same forever.

2. Do you still have the best people involved?

Your personal representative, trustee, guardian, or powers of attorney must be trustworthy, capable, and available. Over time, relationships change or people move away.

If your chosen agents no longer feel like the right fit, updating your documents ensures your wishes will be carried out by the people you trust most.

→ Read about The TAP Method: Choosing the Right Agents for Your Estate Plan

Further, your children may have grown or your guardian preferences may have changed. Maybe your young children are now adults. Maybe the guardian you originally named no longer feels like the right choice. Revisiting these decisions is an essential part of keeping your plan aligned with your family’s needs.

→ Read our guide: Planning for Minor Children

3. Is the current composition of my estate properly reflected by my estate plan?

Have you experienced a major life change?

Life changes quickly. Significant events that may invoke a change include:

• Marriage or divorce
• Birth or adoption of a child
• Death of a loved one
• A new home purchase or sale
• Starting or selling a business

These events may impact who inherits your estate, who serves as guardian for your children, and who should make financial or medical decisions if you can’t.

→ Consider updating after reading our Estate Planning Services.

Has Your Financial Situation Changed? 

If your wealth has increased, decreased, or shifted significantly, your estate plan should reflect it. This includes:

• New investments
• Property or business changes
• Gifting strategies
• Increased tax exposure

A revised estate plan ensures your assets are protected and distributed according to your goals, but more importantly, especially with trust-based estate plans, we want to ensure that you receive the most value from your estate plan knowing the trust is properly structured and funded.

Changing composition of assets also can affect the structure of an estate plan. It is common that when will-based estate plans made sense originally, a shift in the composition of assets starts to make trust-based estate plans the better tool to use in the situation.

Other considerations:

When reviewing your estate plan, there are additional considerations that are important to keep in mind, whether it is simply a structural matter to get the most value from your estate plan, or a consideration that invokes needing to update the documents.

Has your health status changed? 

If your medical needs or conditions have shifted, it’s important to update your Living Will, Medical Power of Attorney, and HIPAA releases. This ensures your wishes are clear, and the person advocating for your care is someone you trust completely.

Are your beneficiary designations up-to-date?

Even the best-drafted will or trust cannot override beneficiary forms on retirement accounts, life insurance policies, bank accounts with TOD/POD designations, and investment accounts. Have you changed financial institutions since you last looked at your estate plan? If these designations are outdated, your assets may go to unintended recipients—regardless of what your estate planning documents say.

Is your estate plan more than 3–5 years old?

Even if nothing major has changed in your life, federal and Colorado laws evolve, and your estate plan should remain current with best practices.

A regular review ensures your documents remain legally sound and fully aligned with your goals.

Why Updating Your Estate Plan Matters

Keeping your estate plan updated avoids:

• Family disputes
• Probate complications
• Outdated or invalid instructions
• Unintended beneficiaries
• Delays in administering your estate

A fresh review each year keeps everything on track and gives you peace of mind—something we believe everyone deserves.

Need Help Updating Your Estate Plan?

At The Law Office of Kevin R. Hancock, we help Colorado Springs families keep their wills, trusts, and incapacity documents current, clear, and legally strong.If you have questions or believe it may be time to update your documents, call us or fill out an online form today. We’re here to make the process simple, supportive, and stress-free.