Year-end is a practical time to review your estate plan if your family, finances, property, health, or business interests changed during the year. For families in Media, Pennsylvania, Delaware County, and nearby areas, the goal is not to replace every document before December 31. The goal is to confirm that your will, trusts, powers of attorney, beneficiary designations, deeds, and related records still reflect your wishes.
Gibson & Perkins, PC helps clients review these parts together so that estate planning documents, account designations, tax considerations, property ownership, and business interests work toward the same plan.
Why Year-End Is a Useful Estate Planning Checkpoint
Pennsylvania does not require you to update your estate plan every December. Year-end can still be a useful checkpoint because it gives you a specific time to review decisions that may otherwise remain unfinished.
You may want to review your plan if you experienced a major change during the year, such as:
- Marriage or divorce
- Birth or adoption of a child
- Death or incapacity of a beneficiary or fiduciary
- Home purchase, sale, refinance, or inheritance
- Retirement or a major job change
- A significant gift or inheritance
- A business purchase, sale, restructuring, or new ownership interest
- A meaningful change in health
- A substantial increase or decrease in assets
A year-end review can also help you organize documents before tax preparation and the start of a new calendar year. The purpose is to identify what still works, what may need revision, and what should be coordinated with your attorney, accountant, financial adviser, or other professional.
Start With Your Will and the People You Named
Read your current will from beginning to end instead of relying on your memory of what it says.
Confirm that the executor you selected is still the person you want to serve. Review any backup executor, guardian, trustee, or other fiduciary named in the document. Someone who was a good choice several years ago may have moved, become ill, died, or may no longer be the person you would select today.
Review how your property is distributed. Your will may need attention after marriage, divorce, remarriage, the birth or adoption of a child, the death of a beneficiary, or changes within a blended family.
For more information about wills, trusts, and estate planning services, visit:
https://www.gibperk.com/estate-planning-attorneys-in-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.
Review Powers of Attorney and Health Care Documents
Your estate plan should address more than what happens after death. It should also identify who can act for you if illness or incapacity prevents you from managing your financial or health care decisions.
Review your durable financial power of attorney and any health care power of attorney, advance directive, or living will. Confirm that the people you named are still available, trustworthy, and willing to serve.
Older documents are not automatically invalid because of age. A review can still help determine whether they reflect your current preferences, family circumstances, financial situation, and applicable law.
Check Beneficiary Designations for Consistency
Some assets pass by beneficiary designation rather than under your will. These assets may include retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and certain financial accounts.
That means your will may not control how those assets pass. Review both primary and contingent beneficiaries and compare them with the rest of your estate plan.
Pay particular attention after:
- Marriage
- Divorce
- Remarriage
- Birth or adoption
- Death of a beneficiary
- Major changes in your financial situation
Pennsylvania law can affect certain beneficiary designations after divorce, but the result can depend on the type of account, governing documents, and other applicable rules. Do not assume that your will, divorce decree, or account paperwork automatically produces the result you want. Review these documents together with your attorney and, when appropriate, the account provider or plan administrator.
Compare Your Estate Plan With Real Estate Ownership
Real estate ownership can affect how property passes at death. A home in Media, a rental property in Delaware County, or property outside Pennsylvania may be titled in a way that affects your estate plan.
Review deeds and ownership records alongside your will or trust. Ask whether the current deed matches your plan and whether joint ownership, a trust, a mortgage, or another title issue affects the intended result.
If you bought, sold, refinanced, transferred, or inherited real estate during the year, an estate planning review may also call for a real estate review.
Learn more about the firm's real estate services:
https://www.gibperk.com/real-estate-attorneys-in-media-pa/
Make Sure Your Trust Is Coordinated With Your Assets
Signing a trust does not always complete the planning process. If your plan depends on certain property being held in a trust, those assets may need to be retitled or otherwise coordinated with the trust.
Review which assets the trust was intended to hold and whether the necessary funding steps were completed. Confirm that successor trustees and beneficiaries are still appropriate.
A trust should work with your will, beneficiary designations, deeds, powers of attorney, and broader financial plan.
Business Owners Should Review Succession Terms
For business owners, estate planning and business planning can overlap.
Your will or trust may address who should receive the economic value of a business interest. A shareholder agreement, operating agreement, partnership agreement, or buy-sell agreement may separately control who can own, manage, transfer, or acquire that interest.
Review these documents together and ask:
- Are the ownership percentages current?
- Do transfer restrictions still reflect the current ownership structure?
- Do valuation provisions still make sense?
- Are buy-sell terms coordinated with the estate plan?
- Are funding arrangements still appropriate?
- Has a new partner, buyout, financing event, sale discussion, or restructuring changed the plan?
For related business transaction guidance, visit:
https://www.gibperk.com/business-transactions-lawyers-in-media-pa/
Coordinate Tax-Sensitive Planning Before Making Year-End Transfers
Year-end often brings discussions about gifting, charitable planning, retirement accounts, business interests, trusts, and other tax-sensitive decisions.
A calendar deadline should not be the only reason to make a transfer. Before acting, understand the legal and tax consequences and confirm that the transaction supports your broader estate plan.
If your year included a large gift, inheritance, business transaction, major sale, or significant change in assets, consider whether your estate planning and tax advice should be coordinated.
Learn more about Gibson & Perkins, PC tax services:
https://www.gibperk.com/tax-lawyers-in-media-pa/
A Practical Year-End Estate Plan Checklist
Before December 31, consider whether you should:
- Read your current will and trust documents
- Confirm executors, trustees, agents, guardians, and backup choices
- Review financial and health care powers of attorney
- Check retirement and life insurance beneficiary designations
- Compare deeds and account titles with your estate plan
- Confirm that trust funding matches your intended plan
- Review business ownership and succession documents
- Update your list of major assets and liabilities
- Confirm where original estate planning documents are stored
- Tell trusted decision-makers where important records can be found
- Note family, health, property, financial, or business changes from the past year
- Schedule a legal review if those changes may affect your plan
A review does not mean that every estate planning document must be replaced. In many cases, the most useful result is confirmation that your current plan still reflects your wishes.
When Should You Update an Estate Plan Before Year-End?
You should consider an update when a meaningful change has made your current documents inaccurate, incomplete, or inconsistent with your assets and goals.
Common reasons include marriage, divorce, birth or adoption, death or incapacity of a beneficiary or fiduciary, a major change in wealth, a home purchase or sale, a new business interest, retirement, relocation, or a change in health or family responsibilities.
You may also benefit from a review when your documents are old enough that you no longer remember the decisions they contain. Your estate plan should be understandable to you and workable for the people who may need to rely on it.
Speak With a Media Estate Planning Attorney Before Year-End
If your estate plan has not been reviewed recently, or if your family, finances, property, business interests, or health changed during the year, a focused review can help you determine what deserves attention before December 31 and what can remain unchanged.
Gibson & Perkins, PC assists individuals and families in Media, Pennsylvania, throughout Delaware County, and in nearby areas with estate planning, wills, trusts, powers of attorney, estate administration, tax matters, real estate, and business succession planning.
Learn more about Edward L. Perkins:
https://www.gibperk.com/media-pa-attorney-edward-l-perkins/
Request a consultation:
https://www.gibperk.com/contact/
This article is for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Every situation is different. Speak with an attorney about your specific circumstances.
