If you’re the type of family that moves often or has recently moved to be closer to relatives or to retire, it’s important to think about all the ways that your move could influence your estate planning.
In addition to updating your address and beneficiary forms on file with your life insurance policy, you might need to think about creating a new will.
Some parts of your will might be valid when you relocate to a new state, but you definitely want to check this with an attorney. This is because there might be new requirements in your most recent state as far as how many witnesses might be present.
Furthermore, perhaps you moved from a state that had a high state estate tax or “death tax.” If you worked with an attorney in your former state, they probably recommended certain strategies based on the state-level taxes due at the time of your death. These tools might no longer be applicable, especially if you relocate to a state without an state-level estate tax.
Moving to a new state is an excellent opportunity to review all of your paperwork and planning to make sure everything is up to date, including your will.
While there are so many things to keep track of during a move, pull out your safe or box of important documents and review them carefully to ensure that nothing else needs to be updated. It might take a weekend to sort through everything and make a to-do list, but it’s great to have the support of a Pasadena estate planning attorney when you’re working through these tasks and when you need to set up meetings for document amendments or creation.
