When you made your will and your estate plan, you knew that they would be crucial documents to have in place for your family in the event that you pass away. Once you and your attorney had finalized the paperwork, you probably thought that you would never need to think of it again.
But this is a big mistake that could have significant ramifications for your family. Now that the Trump administration’s newly-passed tax law has gone into effect, millions of Americans’ estate plans are out of date. It may be a good idea to revisit your estate plans and update them accordingly.
What to update in your estate plan
- One of the biggest changes that could affect your estate planning is the increased exemption for the size of estates. The exemption for couples’ estates has doubled from $11 million to $22 million.
- For most people, there will be fewer hoops to jump through in order to avoid estate taxes. Unless your estate is worth more than $22 million, you will no longer have to use credit-bypass trusts, qualified terminal interest property trusts and several different types of life insurance trusts.
- It is also a good time to update the beneficiaries of your estate to include any new grandchildren or in-laws who were not originally included. You may also wish to update the details regarding your healthcare proxies and power of attorney.
How to update your estate
There are a few ways to update your will and estate plan to reflect the new tax laws and incorporate any updates that you wish to make. The simplest way to do this is to work with a Tennessee-based estate planning attorney. An attorney can also provide valuable insight regarding the new tax law and how it could affect your other legal matters.