A Wills Attorney in Orange County Explains the Biggest Mistake People Make When Estate Planning

As a wills Attorney in Orange County, Dwight Tompkins, knows all about estate planning. He often meets clients who are not aware that they have made the #1 estate-planning mistake. His recent blog post explains this mistake.
 
ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. - Feb. 18, 2014 - PRLog -- ORANGE COUNTY, CA – February 17, 2014 – Dwight Edward Tompkins, a successful wills attorney in Orange County, CA, recently explained the #1 estate planning mistake in his popular blog.  He says, “Many people think that after having executed an estate-planning document, they can keep the document under lock and key until it is needed.   I know this would be the greatest estate planning mistake.”  He stresses the importance of revising one’s estate plan whenever lifetime changes occur.  Tompkins continues, “If one does not review or update his beneficiary designations, then his last or most current intended beneficiaries will probably be holding an empty bag, instead of a piece of the estate.”

If someone remarries and/or has children, this calls for an estate plan revision.  Tompkins states, “Divorce, annulment, separation, widowhood; remarriage and birth of new children are significant changes in one’s personal circumstances which should prompt an estate owner to update their documents.”

In the event of the death of one’s primary beneficiary, an estate plan revision is necessary.  Dwight tells his readers, “In preparing their Will or Trust, the estate owner should indicate a Secondary and even Tertiary beneficiaries.  The Secondary Beneficiary will be the one to inherit the asset should the Primary Beneficiary pass away ahead of the estate owner. Likewise the Tertiary Beneficiary will be the heir if the Secondary Beneficiary passes away.”

Another lifetime change that calls for an estate plan revision is a new job or the transferring of a retirement plan.  In this case, Tompkins, a wills attorney in Orange County, CA (http://www.tompkins-law.com/wills-attorney-orange-county-california) suggests, “When you transfer retirement accounts from your previous company’s retirement plan into your current company or into an IRA, your beneficiaries lose any claim to the new accounts.  In other words, the beneficiary designations are not automatically transferred to the new accounts.”

These are only a few of the many changes outlined in Dwight Tompkin’s recent blog post.  Read the full version here:

http://blog.tompkins-law.com/2014/02/an-orange-county-estate-planning-lawyer.html

About Tompkins Law

Tompkins Law has been assisting residents in the Orange County, California and the surrounding areas with estate planning, probate, living trust, and business planning services for over 20 years.  Visithttp://www.tompkins-law.com/home-page for more information.
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