Clear And Caring Counsel
Brock Zettle Legal Team

Be sure to update your beneficiary list

On Behalf of | Jun 13, 2022 | Estate Planning |

Drawing up your estate in Texas shouldn’t be difficult. You most likely already have a clear enough idea of what you want to leave behind. You should also have a good grip on the people that you want to name as your heirs. It’s a good idea for you to keep in mind that this list may need to be updated from time to time.

Your estate plan needs to be current

Estate planning begins with laying out your assets and deciding who gets what. Where it can get complex is when the people you name as your beneficiaries start to die off before you. They may also get divorced from you and disappear from your life. At the same time, new people may appear, such as a new wife and additional kids.

It’s crucial to name a beneficiary in your estate plan. If you don’t, your insurance company will be entitled to make decisions about where the money goes after you pass. If this is the case, it will probably go in quite a few places that you wouldn’t wish it to. This is why you need a fully up-to-date heir list.

Don’t leave your estate to your ex

Your estate plan can be set up to serve a wide variety of purposes. One of them can be to safeguard the inheritance that you plan on leaving to your children. This is true for your current children as well as any that you may have in the future.

It’s a good idea to make sure that you protect your current wife rather than the spouse you were divorced from. The worst thing that can happen is for your present wife to get nothing because you forgot to update your estate plan. Meanwhile, your former spouse gets it all.

Updating your estate plan only takes a few short moments. This is the best way to redistribute your assets to the people that really need them. It will also be the best protection you can have against having your plan disputed after you have passed.