Most people put enormous care into creating an estate plan. They work with an attorney, sign their will, set up a trust if needed, and name the people they love as beneficiaries. Then life moves on, and the documents sit in a drawer for years.
The problem is that life changes far more often than most people update their estate plans. The family you have today may look very different from the family you had when you signed those documents. Your assets are likely different. The law may have changed. And if your plan has not kept up with any of that, it may not do what you intend when your family needs it most.
Estate planning is not a one-time event. It is an ongoing process that should reflect who you are, what you own, and who you want to protect at every stage of your life. For Massachusetts and New Hampshire families, understanding when to review your plan and what to look at when you do can prevent costly mistakes and protect the people who matter most.
How Often Should You Review Your Estate Plan?
As a general rule, estate planning attorneys recommend reviewing your plan every three to five years even if nothing significant has changed in your life. Laws change, tax thresholds shift, and financial circumstances evolve in ways that can quietly undermine an otherwise solid plan. A regular review ensures your documents remain compliant with current Massachusetts and New Hampshire law and continue to reflect your actual wishes.
That said, certain life events should trigger an immediate review regardless of when you last updated your plan. Waiting for the next scheduled review after a divorce, a death in the family, or the birth of a child can create exactly the kind of gap that leads to unintended outcomes.
Think of your estate plan the way you think about a home inspection. If everything is stable, checking in every few years is reasonable. But if something significant happens to the house, you do not wait until the scheduled review to take a look.
When Should You Update Your Will?
Marriage or Remarriage
Getting married is one of the most important reasons to review and update an estate plan immediately. If you had a will or trust in place before the marriage and have not updated it, your new spouse may not be properly provided for. In Massachusetts and New Hampshire, a surviving spouse has certain statutory rights to the estate regardless of what a will says, but relying on default legal protections is not the same as a thoughtful plan that reflects your actual intentions.
For blended families, the need for a prompt update is even more pressing. When each spouse brings children from a prior relationship into a new marriage, a well-crafted estate plan is the only reliable way to ensure that the right people inherit the right assets, that children from both sides are treated as intended, and that your new spouse is provided for without unintentionally disinheriting your own children.
Divorce
Divorce is one of the most urgent triggers for an estate plan review, and it is also one of the most frequently overlooked. Many people assume that a divorce decree takes care of everything. It does not.
Both Massachusetts and New Hampshire law automatically revoke certain provisions in a will that favor a former spouse once a divorce is finalized. Under M.G.L. c. 190B, Section 2-804 in Massachusetts and RSA 551:13 in New Hampshire, a final divorce generally revokes any property distributions to an ex-spouse named in a will or revocable trust, along with any appointment of the former spouse as executor or trustee. That automatic protection has real limits, however.
It does not apply to assets that pass outside a will. Employer-sponsored retirement accounts such as 401(k) plans and 403(b) plans are governed by federal law, and under the United States Supreme Court’s ruling in Egelhoff v. Egelhoff, a plan administrator must pay benefits to the named beneficiary on file regardless of the divorce. If your ex-spouse is still named on your retirement account, they will receive those funds when you die. The same is true for life insurance policies. These beneficiary designations must be changed manually, and no court order or divorce decree will change them automatically.
In New Hampshire, under RSA 564-E:110, an agent’s authority under a power of attorney is automatically terminated when a divorce petition is filed, which provides some immediate protection. But a clean, updated estate plan is still essential after any divorce is finalized to ensure every document reflects your current wishes and that the right people hold decision-making authority over your finances and health care.
Birth or Adoption of a Child
Welcoming a child into your family changes everything, including your estate plan. If you have minor children and no will naming a guardian for them, a court will make that decision if something happens to you. That is a decision no parent should leave to a judge when they can make it themselves.
A properly updated estate plan after the birth or adoption of a child should name a guardian for the child, designate an alternate guardian in case your first choice is unable to serve, and establish a trust or other arrangement to manage any assets left to the child until they reach an appropriate age. Without a trust, assets left outright to a minor may be subject to court supervision until the child turns eighteen, at which point they receive everything at once, with no structure for responsible management.
Both Massachusetts and New Hampshire law include provisions protecting children born after a will is signed, sometimes called pretermitted heirs. But relying on default legal protections is never the same as a clear, thoughtfully drafted plan that accounts for your actual family.
Death of a Spouse or a Named Beneficiary
When a spouse dies, the surviving partner typically needs to update their entire estate plan to reflect the new reality. The distribution plan, trustee designations, executor appointments, and beneficiary designations on financial accounts and life insurance all need to be revisited. A plan designed for a couple does not automatically transform into a plan appropriate for a surviving individual.
Similarly, if a named beneficiary in a will or trust predeceases you, what happens to their share depends on the specific language of your documents. Sometimes the share passes to that beneficiary’s own descendants. Sometimes it is redistributed among remaining beneficiaries. Sometimes it simply falls into the residue of the estate. If none of those outcomes are what you intended, the plan needs to be updated.
Major Changes in Financial Circumstances
Significant changes in what you own are often an overlooked trigger for an estate plan review. If you have inherited a substantial sum, sold a business, purchased real estate, or seen your retirement accounts grow considerably, your existing plan may no longer be structured appropriately.
This is especially important for Massachusetts residents, where the state estate tax applies to estates valued over $2 million. Massachusetts has one of the lowest estate tax thresholds in the country, and the tax rate goes up to 16 percent. A family that planned when their assets were modest may find that their estate now exceeds the threshold, creating a tax exposure that could have been addressed with appropriate planning tools such as credit shelter trusts, lifetime gifting strategies, or other techniques. New Hampshire residents do not face a state estate tax, which is one reason that Massachusetts residents who move to New Hampshire sometimes need to revisit their plans to reflect that change in their tax situation.
Buying or Selling a Home
Real estate often represents one of the most significant assets in a family’s estate. When you buy or sell a home, it is worth reviewing how that property fits into your overall plan. If you have a trust, newly purchased real estate typically needs to be transferred into the trust to receive the benefits of trust ownership, including avoiding probate. If that step is skipped, the property may pass through probate even if the rest of your estate does not, creating an unnecessary court process for your family.
For Massachusetts families who own real estate in other states, it is worth noting that Massachusetts law, following a 2023 update, generally excludes out-of-state real estate from the Massachusetts estate tax calculation for Massachusetts domiciliaries. If this change affects your situation, it is worth discussing with your attorney to understand whether your existing plan accounts for it correctly.
Starting or Selling a Business
Business owners face estate planning considerations that go well beyond a simple will. If you own a business, your estate plan should address what happens to your ownership interest if you die or become incapacitated, how a buyout would be funded, whether a buy-sell agreement is in place, and how business succession fits with your overall goals for your family. If any of those elements are missing or outdated, they deserve attention.
Selling a business typically produces a significant change in the composition and value of an estate, often shifting wealth from an illiquid business interest into cash, investment accounts, or new assets. That shift warrants a review of how the plan is structured and whether it still achieves the family’s goals.
Retirement
Retirement is a natural moment to take a comprehensive look at an estate plan. Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, which many people set up decades earlier through an employer and never revisited, often reflect a family situation that no longer exists. A review at retirement is an opportunity to confirm that every account, insurance policy, and financial asset is titled correctly and that all beneficiary designations align with the overall plan.
It is also the right time to think carefully about the role of retirement accounts in the estate. Decisions about how retirement accounts are structured, who inherits them, and in what order can have meaningful income tax consequences for the people you leave them to. An estate planning attorney can help ensure those designations work with your broader plan rather than against it.
Moving to Massachusetts or New Hampshire
Moving to a new state can invalidate some estate planning documents or create gaps that need to be addressed. While Massachusetts and New Hampshire generally recognize wills validly executed in another state, the laws governing trusts, powers of attorney, health care directives, and estate taxes vary from state to state. A plan written to work well in Florida, New York, or California may not function as intended under Massachusetts or New Hampshire law.
For anyone moving to Massachusetts specifically, the state estate tax is an important planning consideration that may not have been relevant in a prior state. And for those moving from Massachusetts to New Hampshire, the elimination of state estate tax exposure may open up planning opportunities that did not previously exist.
What Documents Should Be Reviewed During an Estate Plan Update?
A thorough estate plan review looks at every document and account that affects how your assets will be managed and distributed. That means going beyond the will.
Your will establishes the core framework for how your probate estate is distributed, names your executor, and can designate a guardian for minor children. But a will only controls assets that are in your name alone without a beneficiary designation or joint ownership arrangement. Many of the most significant assets a family owns, including retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and jointly held bank accounts, pass entirely outside the will.
If you have a revocable living trust, reviewing how it is funded is just as important as reviewing the trust document itself. A trust that has not been funded, meaning assets have not actually been transferred into the name of the trust, does not avoid probate for those assets. Real estate, bank accounts, and investment accounts typically need to be retitled in the trust’s name to receive its benefits.
Powers of attorney for finances and for health care deserve close attention. These documents authorize people you choose to make decisions on your behalf if you are unable to do so. The people you designated years ago may no longer be appropriate, or the scope of authority granted in the document may not match what you would want today. Health care directives, sometimes called advance directives or living wills, should also be reviewed to confirm they reflect your current wishes about medical treatment and end-of-life care.
Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, life insurance policies, annuities, and payable-on-death bank accounts are among the most consequential pieces of an estate plan, and among the most commonly overlooked. These designations override whatever a will says. Updating a will after a divorce, for instance, does nothing to redirect a retirement account that still names an ex-spouse. Every beneficiary designation on every account should be reviewed as part of any estate plan update.
The Risks of Leaving an Outdated Estate Plan in Place
An estate plan that no longer matches your life does not just fail to help your family. It can actively create problems. Assets can end up with unintended recipients. Former spouses can inherit through beneficiary designations that were never updated. Guardianship of children can be left to a court rather than determined by a parent. Estates that could have avoided probate can end up in court because a trust was never properly funded.
Family disputes are one of the most painful and preventable consequences of an outdated plan. When documents are ambiguous, when family circumstances have changed significantly since they were signed, or when different documents seem to say different things, the result is often conflict among family members at an already difficult time. Clear, current documents reduce the likelihood of disputes and give your family the guidance they need to carry out your wishes without confusion.
There is also a tax dimension to consider. An estate plan that was created before Massachusetts updated its estate tax law in 2023, for instance, may use formulas or structures that no longer produce the intended outcome under current law. A plan that worked efficiently at one asset level may be poorly structured at another. Regular reviews allow these issues to be caught and corrected before they matter.
Is My Old Estate Plan Still Valid?
A will or trust that was properly executed years ago generally remains legally valid unless it was formally revoked or certain specific events occurred, such as a divorce that automatically revokes provisions under Massachusetts or New Hampshire law. In that sense, an old plan is still a plan.
But legal validity is not the same as effectiveness. A plan can be technically valid while being entirely wrong for your current situation. Beneficiaries who have died, guardians who have moved away, trustees who are no longer the right fit, assets that have changed dramatically, and tax laws that have shifted can all render a plan that is legally intact practically useless or worse. The question is not only whether your documents are valid but whether they still do what you need them to do.
Working With an Estate Planning Attorney
Estate planning law in Massachusetts and New Hampshire is specific, and the details matter. A power of attorney that meets New Hampshire’s requirements may need to be reviewed for use in Massachusetts. A trust designed around older tax thresholds may need to be restructured. Beneficiary designation strategies that make sense at one level of assets may be counterproductive at another.
An estate planning attorney who is familiar with Massachusetts and New Hampshire law can review your existing documents, identify gaps and outdated provisions, explain how changes in the law affect your situation, and help you update your plan in a way that is both legally sound and personally tailored to your family’s needs. This is not work that is well suited to a checklist or a one-size-fits-all approach.Â
The goal of a regular estate plan review is not paperwork for its own sake. It is making sure that the people you love are protected, that your wishes are clearly documented, and that your plan continues to work the way you intend as your life unfolds.
Schedule Your Estate Plan Review With KLG Estate Planning
If it has been more than three years since your estate plan was last reviewed, or if a major life event has occurred since you signed your documents, now is a good time to take a closer look. KLG Estate Planning works with Massachusetts and New Hampshire families to keep their plans current, legally compliant, and aligned with what matters most to them.
Whether you need a comprehensive review of an existing plan, updates following a life change, or guidance on how recent changes in Massachusetts or New Hampshire law affect your situation, our team is here to help. Contact the attorneys today at KLG Estate Planning to begin the estate planning process. We offer free 30-minute consultations.
This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Massachusetts law cited includes M.G.L. c. 190B, Section 2-804 (revocation of will provisions upon divorce). New Hampshire law cited includes RSA 551:13 (revocation of will provisions upon divorce) and RSA 564-E:110 (termination of agent’s authority under power of attorney upon filing of divorce petition). Federal law cited includes Egelhoff v. Egelhoff, 532 U.S. 141 (2001) (federal preemption of state law for ERISA retirement account beneficiary designations). Tax information reflects law as of June 2026. Laws change; consult a licensed attorney for advice specific to your situation.
