A mid-year estate planning checkup helps you confirm that your legal documents still reflect your family relationships, property, health care wishes, and financial priorities. Your review should cover your will, durable financial power of attorney, advance health care directive, trusts, beneficiary designations, real estate deeds, business succession documents, and instructions for digital assets.
Gibson & Perkins, PC assists families in Media, Pennsylvania, Delaware County, and nearby areas with estate planning reviews and updates. A review does not always require replacing every document. It should identify what remains current, what needs attention, and whether your documents and account designations work together.
Why Mid-Year Is a Good Time to Review Your Estate Plan 
Estate planning is not a one-time task. A plan that matched your circumstances several years ago may no longer reflect your family, assets, decision-makers, or preferences.
The middle of the year can be a practical time for a checkup because you may have current tax records, retirement statements, insurance information, property documents, and household financial records available. Reviewing these materials together can reveal gaps or conflicting instructions.
A mid-year review also gives you time to address changes before year-end schedules become crowded. The purpose is not to create unnecessary paperwork. The purpose is to confirm that the right people can act for you and that your property will pass according to your current wishes.
You should also consider an estate planning review after a major life event, including:
- Marriage, divorce, or remarriage
- Birth or adoption of a child
- Death or incapacity of a beneficiary or decision-maker
- Purchase or sale of real estate
- Starting, buying, or selling a business
- Retirement or a major change in assets
- A child reaching age 18
- A serious medical diagnosis
- A move into or out of Pennsylvania
Your estate plan should reflect your life as it exists today, not the life you had when you signed the documents.
Review Your Last Will and Testament
Your will is a central part of your estate plan. It can direct how property controlled by your estate will be distributed, nominate an executor, nominate guardians for minor children, and establish trusts for beneficiaries who should not receive property outright.
Read the entire document instead of reviewing only the signature page. Confirm that names, relationships, gifts, percentages, and alternate choices remain correct.
Pay close attention to the person nominated as executor. That person may need to gather assets, address debts and taxes, communicate with beneficiaries, and complete probate responsibilities. A person you selected years ago may have moved, developed health concerns, or become unavailable.
Parents should reconsider guardian nominations as children grow. A guardian who was a suitable choice when a child was born may not remain the best choice years later. You should also nominate at least one alternate in case the first person cannot serve. The court retains authority over the final appointment.
A will does not control every asset. Retirement accounts, life insurance policies, jointly owned property, payable-on-death accounts, and trust assets may pass outside the will. Review your will together with account ownership records and beneficiary forms.
Learn more about wills, trusts, probate, and related planning at:
https://www.gibperk.com/estate-planning-attorneys-media-pa/
Professionalism is the Word
I highly Recommend Gibson & Perkins. I have used their services for approximately 6 years now and been through a few cases together with very positive outcomes. Personally, I have used Paul Fellman and Walter Timby on those occasions. Both, as a team & separately these Attorneys were wonderful to work with and easily accessible to reach if I had any questions. Professionalism is the word that comes to mind to describe the firm, as a whole. Always completely prepared for any surprises that may pop up during a trial. They were well versed on all pertinent info pertaining to each case. As I client, I always felt I was an integral part of the team, not an after-thought, that had to be brought up to speed a half hour before the trial started. I could not recommend this firm and Mr. Fellman and Mr. Timby any higher.Very Satisfied
I hired Paul Fellman after speeking to several different lawyers from different law firms because he was the most sincere. Paul did an excellent job on my landlord tenant issue I had on my rental property. He was there for me from the beginning to the end of the whole ordeal. I was very satisfied and I highly recommend him and his firm.
Check Your Durable Financial Power of Attorney
A durable financial power of attorney authorizes another person, called an agent, to handle the financial or legal matters described in the document. Under Pennsylvania law, authority granted through a durable power of attorney may continue after the principal becomes disabled or incapacitated.
Confirm that your named agent remains trustworthy, available, and capable of handling the responsibility. Review your alternate agent as well.
Consider whether the document provides appropriate authority to address:
- Bank and investment accounts
- Tax filings and communications
- Insurance matters
- Real estate transactions
- Business interests
- Retirement benefits
- Government benefits
- Digital property
- Claims and legal proceedings
Older powers of attorney may not reflect your current assets, business interests, or digital accounts. Financial institutions may also request additional review when a document contains outdated information or does not address the transaction at issue.
Do not sign a replacement power of attorney without understanding how it affects earlier documents. An attorney can help you coordinate revocation, distribute updated copies, and define the agent’s authority.
Review Your Advance Health Care Directive
A Pennsylvania advance health care directive may include a health care power of attorney, a living will, or a written document that combines both.
A health care power of attorney names a trusted person to make medical decisions under the conditions stated in the document. A living will record your preferences about life-sustaining treatment and other end-of-life care.
Review whether your health care agent and alternate remain suitable. The person should understand your values, communicate clearly with medical providers, and remain calm during difficult discussions.
Your directive should reflect your current views about treatment, pain management, organ donation, religious preferences, and end-of-life care. Confirm that all contact information remains accurate.
Keep the original in a secure but accessible location. Give copies to your agents and ask your medical providers whether a copy should be included in your health record.
Evaluate Trust Documents and Trust Funding
A trust may help address asset management during life, distribution after death, privacy, minor beneficiaries, special needs, blended families, tax planning, or property located in more than one state.
Review the trust for current trustees, successor trustees, beneficiaries, distribution standards, and termination provisions. A trust created years ago may remain legally valid even when its people or instructions no longer fit your family.
Trust funding requires equal attention. Signing a trust does not automatically place every asset under its control. Compare the trust schedule with deeds, account titles, business records, and beneficiary forms.
Families planning for a beneficiary with a disability should not make changes without legal advice. An outright inheritance or a poorly coordinated beneficiary designation may affect eligibility for needs-based public benefits, including Supplemental Security Income or Medicaid in some circumstances.
Learn more about special needs planning at:
https://www.gibperk.com/estate-planning-for-a-loved-one-with-special-needs/
Confirm Beneficiary Designations
Beneficiary forms often control some of a family’s most valuable assets outside the will. Review current designations for:
- Life insurance policies
- Individual retirement accounts
- Employer retirement plans
- Annuities
- Payable-on-death bank accounts
- Transfer-on-death investment accounts
- Health savings accounts when beneficiary designations are available
Confirm primary and contingent beneficiaries, percentages, legal names, and the consequences of naming a minor.
Check whether a trust should be named as beneficiary and whether the trust name and date match the legal document. Incorrect wording can create delays or questions after death.
Do not assume that your will corrects an outdated beneficiary form. Each designation should support the same estate planning goals rather than create conflicting instructions.
Review Deeds and Real Estate Ownership
A home is often one of a family’s largest assets. Review deeds for your Pennsylvania real estate, including your primary residence, rental property, vacant land, and vacation property.
The ownership language in a deed can affect what happens after death and whether an interest passes through the probate estate. A deed should also be coordinated with trust-based planning.
Adding a child or another relative to a deed may appear to be a direct way to avoid probate, but the change can create tax, creditor, inheritance, mortgage, and control concerns. Do not change a deed without legal and tax review.
Your estate plan should also address who can manage property during incapacity, pay expenses, and decide whether the property will be sold or retained. When several beneficiaries may inherit the same property, the plan should address how decisions will be made.
Read more about transferring property to heirs at:
Coordinate Business and Succession Documents
Business owners should review estate planning documents together with operating agreements, shareholder agreements, buy-sell agreements, insurance policies, employment arrangements, and succession plans.
Your estate plan should identify who may vote, manage, sell, or transfer an ownership interest after incapacity or death. It should not conflict with restrictions in the company’s governing documents.
You should also consider whether your estate will have enough liquidity to cover taxes, expenses, payroll, debt, or a required buyout.
A mid-year review is especially useful when ownership percentages, business partners, key employees, financing arrangements, or company value have changed. Estate planning and business succession planning should support the same goals.
Account for Digital Assets
Digital assets may include email accounts, cloud storage, online banking, subscriptions, cryptocurrency, photographs, social media profiles, and business platforms.
Create a secure inventory that identifies your major accounts, devices, and the location of access information. Do not place passwords directly in your will because a will admitted to probate may become part of a public court record.
Consider using a secure password manager and legacy contact tools offered by service providers. Store written digital instructions separately so that you can update them without rewriting your estate plan.
Prepare a contact sheet showing where your original documents, deeds, insurance policies, account statements, and business records are stored.
What to Bring to an Estate Planning Checkup
A productive estate planning review can begin with a focused set of records:
- Current will, trusts, and amendments
- Financial and health care powers of attorney
- Living will or combined advance directive
- Deeds and recent real estate records
- Retirement and insurance beneficiary forms
- Business ownership and succession documents
- A general list of assets and debts
- Names and contact information for agents, executors, trustees, guardians, and beneficiaries
- Notes about family, health, property, or financial changes
You do not need perfect records before scheduling a review. A current overview can help identify which documents and accounts require closer attention.
Common Problems a Mid-Year Review May Reveal
An estate planning checkup may identify issues such as:
- A former spouse or deceased relative remains named
- No contingent beneficiary is listed
- A trust was signed but never funded
- A deed conflicts with the rest of the estate plan
- A power of attorney names someone who cannot serve
- A child has reached adulthood but is still treated as a minor
- A business interest is missing from the plan
- Digital assets are not addressed
- Original documents cannot be located
- Family members do not know whom to contact during an emergency
Finding one of these issues does not mean that your entire estate plan must be replaced. You may need only targeted updates. A coordinated review can help determine the appropriate scope of the changes.
Speak With a Media Estate Planning Attorney
A mid-year estate planning checkup can confirm that your plan still works or identify updates before an emergency occurs. Gibson & Perkins, PC assists families in Media, Pennsylvania, Delaware County, and nearby areas with wills, trusts, powers of attorney, health care directives, property planning, business succession planning, and related tax concerns.
The firm combines estate planning guidance with experience in tax, probate, business, and real estate matters. To discuss your current documents and planning goals, call (610) 557-1977 or visit:
https://www.gibperk.com/contact/
This article is for informational purposes only and does not provide legal advice. Consult an attorney about your specific circumstances.