Estate Plan Review Schedule

An estate plan isn't a document you sign once, it's a living plan, and the one you drafted a decade ago may now do the exact opposite of what you intend.

When did you last actually read your estate plan? If the answer is “when I signed it,” there’s a real chance it no longer does what you want. Laws change, your wealth changes, your family changes, and a plan that fit perfectly a decade ago can now point in the wrong direction entirely. An estate plan is a living thing, not a document you sign and file forever.

The fix is a simple review rhythm. Here’s when to look and what to check each time.

Review on a calendar

Every year, do a quick scan. Confirm the people named, executor, trustee, guardian, power of attorney, healthcare proxy, are still alive, willing, and the right choice. Re-run your beneficiary designation audit.
Every three to five years, do a full review with your attorney. Read the actual documents and make sure the whole structure still fits your life and the current law.

Review after any life event, no matter the calendar

Marriage or divorce, yours or a child’s.
A birth or adoption.
A death, of a spouse, beneficiary, or anyone you named to a role.
A child reaching adulthood, or a beneficiary developing a disability or a creditor or addiction problem.
A large change in your wealth: a business sale, an inheritance, a liquidity event.
A move to a new state, which can change everything about how your plan and your taxes work.

Check the core documents

Will. Does it still reflect who gets what, and who’s in charge?
Trusts. Are they funded? An unfunded trust is an empty box. Confirm assets are actually titled into it.
Powers of attorney (financial and healthcare). Still naming people you trust, and still current enough that institutions will honor them?
Healthcare directive / living will. Does it still match your wishes?
Beneficiary forms. The form beats the will, so these get checked every single time.

Check what the law did while you weren’t looking

Federal estate tax. The exemption is now a permanent $15,000,000 per person for 2026, indexed from 2027. The old sunset everyone planned around was repealed, so plans built to beat that deadline may need a rethink. See estate tax exemption sunset planning.
State estate tax. If you live in or moved to a state with its own estate tax, like New York, with its much lower threshold and a cliff, that exposure may dwarf your federal picture. See NY estate tax threshold and cliff.
Retirement account rules. The ten-year payout rule on most inherited IRAs reshaped legacy planning. Make sure your multigenerational Roth and account strategy still fit.

Check that your plan still matches your intent

Re-read who inherits what and ask whether it’s still what you want.
Confirm any step-up basis vs. lifetime gifting decisions still hold given today’s exemption.
Make sure your charitable and family-transfer goals are still served by the structure you have.

Close the loop with the people who’ll use it

Tell your executor and trustee where the documents live and how to reach your attorney.
Update your digital access plan so nothing is locked behind a password.
Hold a family conversation so the plan isn’t a surprise at the worst possible moment.

The most common estate planning failure isn’t a bad plan. It’s a good plan gone stale. Put the review on the calendar, tie it to your life events, and your plan keeps doing its job long after the day you signed it.