2022 National Estate Planning Week

A computer in the office of a notary and a will

Did you know that October 17-October 23, 2022 is National Estate Planning Week?  National Estate Planning Week was established in 2008, in an effort to highlight the importance of having an updated estate plan.

It is widely estimated that up to 60% of Americans do not have a Will.  As an attorney who focuses primarily on estate planning and estate administration, I’d wager to say that a large portion of those that do have a Will have not updated it in quite some time.  A good estate plan is meant to grow with you and should be reviewed regularly.  I recommend that clients review their estate planning documents every 3 to 5 years and whenever a major life change occurs.

You should also check in with your attorney to make sure your documents are still current.  The laws are constantly changing and it is important to make sure your documents keep up.  In 2020 Pennsylvania finally adopted laws dealing with digital assets.  Over the last few years, changes have been made to the requirements in your documents to give your fiduciary access to your digital assets.  Think digital assets only refers to cryptocurrencies?  Think again.  Digital assets certainly includes cryptocurrencies, but also include photos stored in the cloud, passwords and login information for accounts, social media accounts, PayPal accounts, and so much more.  Do you have an Apple card? That Apple Cash card is a digital asset!  As technology continues to advance, digital assets will continue to grow.  Making sure your estate planning documents have the language necessary to grow with them is important.

Not sure if your documents have the required digital asset language or just think it is time to review your documents as a whole?  Our estate planning attorneys are happy to help.