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HAVENS MALCZYNSKI GRIGOLLA, LLP

How Much Time Does It Take To Update An Estate Plan?


It doesn’t take that much time to update an estate plan. Usually, there is a meeting in my office somewhere between 30 to 45 minutes to discuss what the plan does, discuss any changes in your situation and how we would want to address those changes. About a week later, we would have you come in and I would have the documents prepared and then we would sign them.

Is It Costly To Update My Estate Plan?

The cost ranges anywhere between $150 if there are very minor changes up to maybe $500 or $600 for making a lot of changes to the estate plan; somewhere in that range.

How Do I Make The Changes To My Estate Plan Official?

We have to follow the same formalities for the changes as we do when we initially establish the estate plan. The documents generally need to be notarized with the exception of the will or any changes to the will itself. Those are witnessed, but in our office, we oversee all of that and make sure that all the formalities are taken care of so it’s all done properly.

If I Am Updating My Estate Plan, Do I Need To Update My Will As Well?

The will is part of the estate plan so you absolutely need to update your will as well. It’s especially important for people who have young children because it’s the will where the guardians are nominated. If we ever wanted to make changes to guardianship, that’s where we would make those changes. Otherwise, all the will do is it transfers any assets that are not in the trust at death into the trust so there are usually not any significant changes to the will.

HAVENS MALCZYNSKI GRIGOLLA, LLP

What Will The Attorney Need In Order To Revise My Estate Plan?

Obviously, we would need a starting point to revise your estate plan. We would need a copy of the current existing estate plan so that we know where we are starting from and then the same information we would need if we were setting up the estate plan originally. We would want to know what assets the person has and how those assets are titled to be sure that’s done appropriately. We would want to know all the particulars of who they would want in charge if they became incapacitated or at their death and how they would want their estate distributed after their death.

How Complicated Is It To Update My Estate Plan?

Updating an estate plan is about the same level of complexity as when the estate plan was first created, which is less complicated than what people think it would be. All we need to do is get that information I mentioned earlier and then the attorney prepares all the paperwork so that your wishes are carried out.

Is Revising An Estate Plan Something That I Can Do on My Own?

Theoretically, yes, revising an estate plan is something you can do on your own, but as a practical matter, I would not advise it simply because there are questions that we ask which would raise issues that you may not know exist. We have a professional look over it and ask the appropriate questions. It is very beneficial to bring up any issues that you would not know and therefore could not address on your own.

For more information on Time Taken To Update An Estate Plan, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (626) 385-6303 today.

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