The annual review: half an hour, once a year

Most of the failures described across this site are not failures of planning. They are failures of maintenance.

A will made ten years ago, before a divorce. A beneficiary form naming someone who died. An executor who has moved abroad. A solicitor whose firm has closed.

None of these require redoing the plan. They require noticing.

Pick a date

A birthday, the start of a tax year, the anniversary of something. Any fixed annual point.

Put it in the calendar as a recurring appointment. Half an hour.

The checklist

Is the will still what you want? Read it. Not skim — read it. Provisions that made sense years ago frequently do not now.

Is the executor still appropriate, still alive, still willing, still contactable, and still in the same country?

Are the beneficiaries still correct, and are any of them dead?

Do you know where the original will is, and does your executor?

If it is with a firm of solicitors, confirm the firm still exists and still holds it. Firms merge and close, and wills are transferred or, occasionally, lost.

Check every beneficiary designation. Pensions, life insurance, death-in-service benefits, and any product with a nomination.

This is the item most often wrong and the one with the largest consequences. Do it every year.

Is the power of attorney still appropriate, and is the attorney still willing and able?

Is the advance directive still what you want, and does your doctor still have a copy? Views change with circumstances, particularly after any change in health.

Is your healthcare proxy still the right person, and have you spoken to them recently?

Is the digital inventory current? Add anything new, remove anything closed.

Is the password manager emergency access still set up, and is the nominated person still appropriate?

Are the funeral wishes still accurate?

Is the one-page location document current and dated?

The triggers that require an immediate review

Rather than waiting for the annual date.

Marriage or civil partnership, which in some jurisdictions revokes an existing will entirely.

Divorce or separation, which may partially revoke provisions and which frequently does not affect beneficiary designations.

Birth or adoption of a child, particularly for guardianship provisions.

Death of a beneficiary, executor, attorney or proxy.

Significant change in assets — buying or selling property, receiving an inheritance, starting a business.

Moving to another country or state, which can affect the validity and operation of everything.

A diagnosis, which starts a clock on capacity.

Estrangement or reconciliation.

A change in the law, which is harder to notice and which is why a periodic professional review is worthwhile.

When to involve a professional

Not every year.

Reasonable triggers: any of the events above, a substantial change in circumstances, or simply every five to ten years to check that nothing in the law has changed in a way that affects your arrangements.

Between those, the checklist above is something you can do yourself.

The document to maintain

The single most useful thing, mentioned repeatedly across this site.

One page, dated, containing: where the will is and who holds it, who the executor is, where the advance directive is, who the healthcare proxy is, which banks and providers you use, who your solicitor and accountant are, where the digital inventory is, how to access the password manager, and where funeral wishes are recorded.

No credentials, no account numbers, no confidential detail. Just locations.

Update it at the annual review, put the new date on it, and destroy the old version.

Give a copy to your executor.

Telling people

The annual review is also the moment to check that the people involved still know they are involved.

A short message to your executor and your proxy, once a year, confirming they are still willing and still know where things are, takes two minutes.

It also prevents the situation where someone discovers they were appointed to a role they have not thought about in a decade.

Why this matters more than the original planning

The plan is made once, with attention, frequently with professional help.

Life then moves for years, and the plan does not.

Most of the estate disputes, the failed intentions and the practical disasters described across this site originate in a document that was correct when written.

Half an hour a year prevents nearly all of them.

This is general information, not legal advice. Where circumstances have changed significantly, or where you have moved jurisdiction, take professional advice rather than relying on a self-review.