An estate plan should not be a stagnant set of documents that is filed away and never reviewed. It is a snapshot of the family, the assets, and the law at the moment the documents were signed. All three of those things change, sometimes in ways that significantly affect whether the plan still works. A document that was appropriate in 2010 may have gaps, outdated names, or stale tax assumptions in 2026. The most common failure in estate planning is not a poorly drafted document. It is a well-drafted document that was never revisited after the circumstances around it changed.
Birth or Adoption of a Child or Grandchild
A new child or grandchild is one of the clearest triggers for a review. While the Massachusetts Probate Code will include after born descendants as beneficiaries even if not explicitly named, many wills and trusts name specific beneficiaries which can cause confusion if more children are born later and are not properly referenced. Even when the documents are drafted with gifts to a class of beneficiaries, such as “children,” a new child may justify a review of guardianship nominations, distribution ages, or specific bequests.
For grandparents, a new grandchild can change how specific bequests should be drafted, whether 529 funding should be added, and whether specific provisions for that grandchild need to be revisited.
Divorce
Massachusetts has a statutory safety net for divorce. Under MGL c. 190B, section 2-804, a divorce automatically revokes provisions in a will, revocable trust, and certain other nonprobate transfers that favor the former spouse or appoint the former spouse as fiduciary. The statute treats the former spouse as if they had predeceased the decedent for purposes of the affected provisions.
That is a backstop, not a substitute for an update. The statute does not rewrite the document or fill in successor fiduciaries. It also has limited effect on ERISA-governed retirement accounts. State revocation-on-divorce statutes are generally preempted as to ERISA plan administration, so plan administrators typically follow the beneficiary designation on file unless it is changed in compliance with plan procedures. Beneficiary designations on 401(k) plans and certain other employer-sponsored accounts must be updated directly with the plan administrator. A post-divorce plan review is the only way to confirm that every document and account reflects the new reality.
Death of a Fiduciary or Beneficiary
Wills and trusts typically name a chain of fiduciaries: a personal representative and successor, a trustee and successors, a guardian and successor. When one of those named individuals dies or becomes incapacitated, the chain may need to be revised.
The same is true for beneficiaries. If a specific bequest was left to someone who has since died, the document may direct where that gift goes next, or it may be silent. A silent document can lead to the gift lapsing and falling into the residue of the estate, which may not be the intended outcome.
Moves Across State Lines
Estate planning law is state-specific. Estate plans drafted in other states may not translate cleanly to Massachusetts, which has its own Uniform Probate Code, its own $2 million estate tax threshold with no portability, and its own rules on joint ownership.
A family that moves to Massachusetts from another state should have the plan reviewed even if the documents appear to work on their face. Conversely, a family that moves from Massachusetts to a non-estate-tax state may have planning structures that are no longer needed or that now produce inefficient results.
Significant Asset Changes
Estate plans are built around the types of assets that an individual has. When this asset picture materially changes, the plan often needs to change too.
Selling a business, inheriting property, retiring and rolling over a 401(k), taking out a large life insurance policy, or receiving a large distribution from a family trust can all shift the estate’s tax exposure, probate exposure, liquidity profile, and distribution design. A plan that was calibrated for a $500,000 estate may be under-designed when the estate reaches $4 million.
Changes in Tax Law
Tax law also changes over time. The federal estate tax exemption is $15 million per person for 2026. The Massachusetts estate tax threshold is $2 million per person, with no portability between spouses.
Documents drafted before these changes may still use formula clauses that reference older exemption amounts, outdated state thresholds, or portability assumptions that do not apply in Massachusetts. Formula clauses that were carefully calibrated for a $1 million Massachusetts threshold can produce unintended results at $2 million. A plan review after any significant change in federal or Massachusetts estate tax law is worth the time.
Beneficiary Designation Updates After Employer Changes
Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and group life insurance live at the plan administrator level, not in the estate planning documents. Every time an employee changes jobs, rolls over a 401(k), or enrolls in new employer benefits, new beneficiary designations should be made on the new plan.
A 401(k) rolled into an IRA at Fidelity may list one set of beneficiaries. A new 401(k) at a new employer may list a different set, or none. Group term life insurance may default to the estate if nothing was completed. The only way to catch this is a periodic beneficiary audit.
A Three to Five Year Cadence
Even without a specific triggering event, estate plans benefit from a regular review. A three to five year cadence catches most of the changes described above. Asset values have time to move meaningfully, tax law has time to shift, and family circumstances have time to evolve in ways that may not have registered as “update triggers” but still matter.
For families with complex plans and family dynamics, a more frequent review may be appropriate. For families with basic plans and stable circumstances, the five-year mark is often the right checkpoint.
Planning Ahead
The best estate plan is one that reflects current reality. Families in Massachusetts should build a periodic review into their routine, and they should treat life events (marriage, divorce, births, deaths, moves, large asset changes, major tax law changes) as prompts to pull the documents back out. A short review with an attorney is a good way to confirm that the documents that were signed years ago still accomplish what the family wants.
References
- MGL c. 190B, section 2-804 (revocation of probate and nonprobate transfers on divorce)
- MGL c. 65C (Massachusetts estate tax, including $2 million threshold)
- Chapter 50 of the Acts of 2023 (Massachusetts estate tax exemption increase)
- IRC section 2010(c)(3), as amended by P.L. 119-21, section 70106 (federal estate tax basic exclusion amount for 2026 and later years)
- One Big Beautiful Bill Act, P.L. 119-21 (made elevated federal exemption permanent at $15 million for 2026)
- Egelhoff v. Egelhoff, 532 U.S. 141 (2001) (ERISA preemption of state beneficiary laws)