Advisers Warn 27% of Estate Plans Carry Stale Terms, Raising Probate Risks

10 articles · Updated · USA TODAY · May 14

Fewer than half of Americans have estate-planning documents, and 27% of those with a will or trust either never update it or review it only every 10 years or more, advisers said.
Beneficiary designations and asset titles often override a will, determining who gets an account or property and whether it passes outside probate or through a costly court process.
Missing or outdated designations can delay distributions, trigger legal fees, leave surviving spouses without access to funds, or send assets to an ex-spouse, a court-appointed guardian, or the wrong heir.
Advisers said major assets such as homes, retirement accounts and investment accounts should be titled deliberately, with wills serving mainly as backup and to name guardians for minor children.
For more complex estates, they recommend adding a living trust and revisiting titles and beneficiaries after marriage, divorce or at least every year or two.

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