Once you have a will, as your circumstances change, you should review and change your will to take new situations into account. You can change the terms of your will any time you want by executing a new one.

Reasons to think about changing your Will

A few of the most common reasons to consider creating a new will are:

You get married: If you want to provide for your new spouse in any way other than what your state would call for if you died intestate, you need to change your will.

You move in with someone: If you want your significant other to inherit any of your property, update your will accordingly.

You become a parent: Consider how your children will be cared for if you and your spouse die. You'll need to name a guardian, consider setting up trusts and naming trustees to handle assets that your children will inherit, and give someone a durable power of attorney, or, appoint someone to act for you in financial matters if you can't.

You get divorced: In this situation, you should review everything. In most states, a divorce automatically revokes those provisions that apply to your former spouse; in some states, the whole will may be defunct.

You remarry: At the least, you have a new spouse to consider. But if you're combining families, you have children from you and your new spouse's previous marriages to consider, as well as children you might have together.

You approach middle age: Your assets have grown, so tax planning could save your heirs a great deal in federal estate taxes.

You retire and/or move to a new state: Your new state's laws may be different from those where you originally wrote your will. In addition, your needs may have changed.

Your spouse dies: If you have sufficient assets of your own, including some that you can easily liquidate as you need the cash, you should seek expert advice on any tax benefits you could reap from giving up (disclaiming) some of your inheritance in favor of alternate beneficiaries, such as your children.