personal behavior, relationships, or medical treatment should therefore be drafted only with professional legal advice to ensure that they are valid and enforceable.
There is another important issue that can easily be overlooked: assets with beneficiary designations may pass directly to named beneficiaries regardless of what a will says. An estranged child who remains listed on a retirement account, life insurance policy, payable-on-death account, or similar arrangement could potentially receive those assets even if the will or trust says otherwise.
Reviewing and updating beneficiary designations is therefore an essential part of estate planning. The rules governing each type of asset should be considered individually.
Your Estate Plan Can Change
Finally, remember that an estate plan does not necessarily have to be permanent. As long as you have the legal capacity to make changes, you can generally update your plan if circumstances change — if estrangement gives way to reconciliation, if the
