Do You Know When to Amend Your West Palm Beach Estate Plan – Four Times to Amend and More.

Uncategorized • Aug 12, 2015

Do you have a properly executed Last Will and Testament? Have you followed the guidelines set out inFlorida Statutes? When is the last time you amended your will through a codicil or revoked it to form a new will? Do you know when to amend your West Palm Beach estate plan? Check out these four time to amend your estate plan.

#1 Marriage

Have you recently gotten married in West Palm Beach or out of State?
You probably want to amend your estate plan to reflect your new found matrimony – do you know why?
If you die without amending the will your spouse is not disinherited.
Instead he or she will have two choices of how to inherit.
He or she can take an elective share equal to thirty percent of your estate or they can take their intestate share.
How much is the intestate share in West Palm Beach?
It could be all of your estate or alternatively if you have children with other people up to fifty percent.
Regardless you will want to control your estate plan and amend.

#2 Divorce

Divorce is not quite the same as marriage, the law seems to work a little bit more on your side.
All provisions related to your former spouse will be struck from your will, life insurance policies and trusts.
Regardless you still want to amend your estate plan to reflect the change in circumstances in order to make sure that everything is up to speed.

#3 Having Children

Much like getting a new spouse having children is a foreseeable occurrence that the probate code does account for.
That being said the probate code is based on generalities that may not reflect your situation keenly.
For example if you do not amend your will for a new child and never amended the estate plan during their lifetime they may have a claim to their intestate share of your estate.
In this case your child is known as a pretermitted child or heir.
Do not leave your wealth to be accounted for by the intestacy codes, amend your estate plan after you have children.

#4 Any Large Life Event

It is hard even for experienced Palm Beach probate litigators to foresee every situation where amending an estate plan is proper.
If you have had a large life event recently that changes your plans in the long run, you may want to amend your will.
For example have you recently become disabled?
Has a child become disabled and going to be dependent on State services for help in their lifetime? It may be time to look into a special needs trust.
If you are unsure about whether it is time to amend your West Palm Beach estate plan, just ask.