Dear Liz: My wife and I have a trust created in California to distribute our assets to our children after our deaths. In 2017, we moved to Texas and had the trust updated by a Texas attorney to reflect some changes and any differences between Texas and California rules. We moved back to California in 2020. Do we need to update our trust documents again because of the relocation? Do we need to do it any time we move? The terms in the document are generally fine. I just don’t know if the change in residency requires an update to the document.
Answer: Your last move required updates. Why wouldn’t this one?
Any major life change, including a move to another state, should prompt a review of your estate documents. Such a review is a good idea anyway every five years or so, even if you think nothing has changed in your personal circumstances. Laws can change, or you may have different ideas about who your beneficiaries should be, or whom you want to make decisions for you should you become incapacitated.
People often think (or hope) estate planning can be a one-time process. But life and the law aren’t static, so estate plans need to evolve too.