A will is the kind of thing no one likes to think about. The unsavory combination of having to deal with a lawyer and contemplating your own death is enough to make anyone hunt for a more pleasant activity! (I suspect many gutters have been given a non-seasonal cleaning for this very reason!)

While no one likes to think about dying, a good estate plan can be a tremendous source of blessing for the Christian, his family, and the ministries God lays on his heart to support.

This article outlines some priorities to consider when drafting a will and seven changes in life that indicate the need to change your estate plan as well!

Your Will Should Reflect Your Current Wishes and Family Situation.

A will is the kind of thing no one likes to think about. The unsavory combination of having to deal with a lawyer and contemplating your own death is enough to make anyone hunt for a more pleasant activity! (I suspect many gutters have been given a non-seasonal cleaning for this very reason!)

Even for those of us who have mustered the resolve to bite the bullet and execute an estate plan, the tendency is to mentally check the matter off life’s to-do list completely and never give it another thought. When life changes, (as life has a tendency to do) the priorities and details of your estate plan must change to keep up. Your estate plan should address your family’s current situation and goals, not the ones you had five or ten years ago when you last considered the issue.

While no one likes to think about dying, a good estate plan can be a tremendous source of blessing for the Christian, his family, and the ministries God lays on his heart to support. As a Christian, your estate plan should provide:

• A clear and detailed salvation testimony to your heirs of your personal faith in Jesus Christ. This is your final opportunity to share the gospel message and your Christian heritage with your loved ones, and it will give great comfort to your family to know you are now enjoying your home in heaven!
• Appropriate provision for the needs of your children, and grandchildren (should your spouse not survive you). This includes not only financial provision, but also legal guardianship in the case of minor children. With respect to financial inheritances, few people give any meaningful thought to the purpose behind leaving money to your heirs, but this important decision can have eternal consequences!
• A practical demonstration of your love and support for the ministries God used to bless you and your family during your lifetime. To fully account for his Biblical stewardship responsibilities, every Christian must consider God’s leading in the area of ministry giving. For you as a Christian, estate giving to your local church and other ministries that have impacted your life is an expression of gratitude and a final act of stewardship. The potential blessing an estate gift represents can be used of God to advance the Kingdom in a way current giving rarely provides.

The following checklist of events should help you understand when it is time to consider making a new will. Remember, life insurance beneficiaries, bank accounts, retirement funds, and trust documents are usually not updated by changes to your will, so major life changes such as those outlined below might also indicate the need to update those documents as well!

• You get married. You and your new spouse should create new wills when you get married. Every state has laws that govern the distribution of a person’s assets when they die without a will (or, as the law calls it, “intestate”), but not every state handles a new spouse the same. The only way to be certain that your assets are distributed according to your wishes is to update your will after getting married.
• You get divorced. In most states, a final judgment of divorce (or an annulment) revokes any gift made by your will to your former spouse. But in some states, it does not. So no matter where you live, you should make a new will after a divorce if finalized.
• You have your first baby. You'll want to make a new will to name a personal guardian for the little one (and any other babies that may follow). This is the person you want to raise your children in the unlikely event that both you and your spouse die while they are minors. Choosing Godly guardians to care for your children in your absence is one of the most difficult and important decisions young parents must consider. Make sure the language used in your will is flexible enough to include any future children that you may add following the adoption of your estate plan.
• You have new stepchildren. Unless you legally adopt stepchildren, they have no right to inherit from you in most situations. If you want to leave them a share of your property, you must adjust your will and specifically include them by name.
• You acquire or dispose of substantial assets, such as a home. If you leave a general bequest of all of your property to one or more people or organizations, there is no need to change your will when what you own changes. But if you have made specific gifts referencing property that you no longer own, you will leave the intended beneficiaries out in the cold unless you update your will. (If you no longer own the property referenced in your will at the time of your death, the beneficiaries are probably out of luck; they won't get anything in lieu of it!) Likewise, if you obtain new property and you want to leave it to someone specific, you'll need to change your will to make your wishes clear.
• You are married and move from a community property state to a common law property state, or vice versa. Community property and common law property states view the ownership of property by married couples differently. This means that what both you and your spouse own may legally change considerably if you move from one type of state to the other. Consulting an attorney licensed to practice in your new state will help you understand the potential impact of the move on your estate plan and any advisable changes.
• You change your mind about who you want to inherit a significant portion of your property. If you decide to leave a share of your property to someone different, you will need to create a new will. Most states require the execution of a new will in order for any changes to take effect—even the simple change of one name!

Changing a Will

There are two ways to modify a will. One is to add a "codicil" to it. A codicil is a sort of legal "P.S." to the will, revoking part of it or adding a provision, such as a new gift of an item of property. Simple codicils made sense in the era of typewriters, when creating a brand-new will was a hassle, but today codicils are normally a poor idea. Codicils are not viewed the same in every state, and so it is not easy to predict the effectiveness of a codicil. Codicils can create confusion—sometimes even conflict—and they must be dated, signed, and witnessed just like a will.

It is usually just as easy to make a new will. In it, you revoke your old one by including a simple statement like this: "I revoke all wills and codicils that I have previously made." It's also a good idea to gather all copies of your old will and destroy them. In general, the last valid will you make before your death will be the only effective legal instrument, hence the commonly used term, “Last Will & Testament….”

Remember, your will is only effective if someone alive after you knows you have one and where to find it! Wills are not maintained on file with the court or any other entity for safe-keeping, and in very few circumstances will a probate court accept a photocopy from your lawyer’s office! Only the original signed will can be submitted to the court for consideration in most cases.

Changing Other Estate Documents

Do not forget that much of your property will probably pass outside the terms of your will. For example, individual retirement accounts, joint or payable-on-death bank accounts, stocks registered with a transfer-on-death form, and life insurance proceeds go directly to the beneficiaries you named. Your will has no effect on them. If you change your mind about who you want to inherit these kinds of property, you need to change the documents on which you named the beneficiary.

If you have a living trust and want to change its terms, you can add an amendment to the original document. You may then need to transfer property in or out of the trustee's name. Unlike a will, you do not usually revoke a trust and start over if you want to make a change.

You may want to consider creating a Family Vision Endowment through Eternal Vision to handle your end-o-life giving plans. We have developed this program to making ministry gifting efficient and to provide greater flexibility for the steward to change beneficiary designations without going through the expense of altering legal documents. Using a Family Vision Endowment provides privacy and may avoid the long and expensive process of probate.

Remember to review your entire estate plan periodically to see if there are any changes you want to make. Once a year would not be too often.