Making Changes to Your Estate Plan

Are you thinking about making changes to your estate plan? If you’re already our client, or you are in Southern Arizona, we’d like to help. But we have some advice for you in any case.

In this podcast episode, we discuss some of the common mistakes we see people make. Changing your estate plan isn’t as simple as scribbling out one name, writing in a new one and initialing. That kind of “change” is almost certainly ineffective (well, in Arizona, anyway).

How about writing out a new note: “here’s what I really mean to do —“. Another fail. Don’t do it. Just don’t do it.

We see so many instances of people worrying their estate plans like the proverbial dog worrying a bone. There’s a high likelihood that the change you want to make is straightforward and uncomplicated. But there’s also a high likelihood you’ll add cost and confusion if you try to do it yourself.

Here’s one thing that lawyers are actually good for: we can ask you questions, figure out what you’re really trying to accomplish, and make it happen. It’s what we do. Well, that and recover from the disasters that you might inflict if you try making changes to your estate plan without good legal counsel.