Why Valentine’s Day Is a Good Reminder to Update Your Estate Plan
By Anjali Patel
To update your estate plan means reviewing whether your current documents still reflect your relationships, responsibilities, and intentions, and Valentine’s Day is a useful reminder because it naturally brings those questions to the surface. For many Arizona adults, estate planning documents exist, but they were drafted at a different stage of life and no longer match current realities. Relationships change, families grow, assets shift, and laws evolve. An estate plan that once worked well can quietly become outdated without anyone noticing.
Estate planning is not something that only needs attention after a major crisis or life event. In practice, the most common problems I see come from plans that were never revisited, not from people who failed to plan at all. Valentine’s Day creates a natural pause to think about the people you care about most and whether your legal documents still protect them in the way you intend.
Updating your estate plan is about alignment, not romance
Despite the holiday framing, this is not about sentimentality. When clients update their estate plan, the goal is alignment. Your documents should match your current family structure, financial picture, and decision-making preferences. If they do not, the legal consequences can be significant.
Arizona estate plans typically include some combination of a will, a revocable living trust, financial and health care powers of attorney, and beneficiary designations. These documents work together. If one piece is outdated, the plan can break down in ways that are not obvious until it is too late to fix them.
Valentine’s Day tends to highlight changes in relationships. Engagements, marriages, divorces, blended families, long-term partners, and caregiving arrangements often evolve quietly over time. Estate planning documents do not update themselves to reflect those changes.
When should you update your estate plan?
There is no single trigger that applies to everyone, but there are clear patterns that suggest a review is overdue. Many people assume estate planning updates are only necessary after major milestones like marriage or the birth of a child. In reality, smaller changes can be just as important.
If you are asking yourself whether you should update your estate plan, that question alone is often the answer. Estate planning is preventative. Waiting for a perfect moment or a major event usually means waiting too long.
What happens if your estate plan is outdated?
An outdated estate plan does not simply fail gracefully. It can create confusion, delay, and conflict. In Arizona, courts rely heavily on the written documents. Judges do not rewrite estate plans to reflect what someone probably would have wanted.
For example, if your documents name a former spouse, an estranged family member, or someone who is no longer capable of serving, the court is limited in what it can do. Even well-drafted plans can cause problems if the named decision-makers no longer make sense.
Financial powers of attorney are a common weak spot. Arizona’s power of attorney statutes require specific language and formalities under A.R.S. § 14-5501. Older documents may not meet current standards, and institutions are increasingly cautious about honoring them.
Health care powers of attorney raise similar concerns. If your health care agent lives out of state, is significantly older than you, or is no longer someone you trust to follow your wishes, the document may not work as intended in an emergency.
Does marriage automatically update your estate plan in Arizona?
Marriage does not automatically update your estate plan, and this is a frequent misconception. While Arizona is a community property state, that does not replace the need for updated documents. Community property rules affect ownership, but they do not resolve questions about decision-making authority, guardianship of children, or distribution after death.
If you were married after executing your estate plan, your existing documents may partially conflict with Arizona law or simply fail to account for your spouse in the way you expect. Relying on default rules is rarely a good substitute for intentional planning.
What about long-term partners who are not married?
For unmarried couples, updating an estate plan is even more critical. Arizona law does not grant automatic inheritance or decision-making rights to unmarried partners. Without updated documents, a surviving partner may have no legal authority to manage finances, make medical decisions, or remain in a shared home.
Valentine’s Day often brings these realities into focus for couples who have built a life together without formal legal recognition. An estate plan is one of the few ways to provide legal protection in that situation.
Guardian designations are often outdated
Parents frequently underestimate how quickly guardian designations become outdated. People move, relationships change, health issues arise, and family dynamics shift. A guardian who made perfect sense when your children were born may no longer be the best choice.
Arizona allows parents to nominate guardians through estate planning documents, but those nominations should reflect current circumstances. Updating your estate plan gives you the opportunity to reassess not only who you named, but why you named them.
Beneficiary designations deserve regular review
Retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and payable-on-death accounts pass by beneficiary designation, not by will or trust. These designations often outlive the documents they were coordinated with.
When clients update their estate plan, one of the most important steps is confirming that beneficiary designations still align with the plan as a whole. An outdated beneficiary designation can override careful trust planning entirely.
Updating an estate plan is not starting over
One reason people delay updates is the assumption that it means redoing everything from scratch. That is usually not the case. In many situations, updating an estate plan involves targeted revisions rather than a full overhaul.
The key is identifying which documents still work and which do not. Laws change, but so do personal priorities. A good update reflects both.
Estate planning is also about incapacity
Estate planning is often framed around death, but incapacity planning is just as important. If you are alive but unable to make decisions, your powers of attorney control who steps in and how much authority they have.
Updating your estate plan ensures those documents reflect people who are still willing, able, and appropriate to serve. It also ensures your preferences regarding medical care are clear and current.
Why Valentine’s Day works as a practical reminder
Valentine’s Day is not legally significant, but it is psychologically effective. It prompts reflection without the pressure of a crisis. That makes it a useful annual checkpoint.
Using a predictable reminder reduces the chance that estate planning stays permanently on the back burner. Many clients find it easier to schedule a review when it is tied to a familiar moment rather than waiting for something to go wrong.
The goal is clarity, not perfection
Estate planning does not require predicting every future change. It requires clarity at the time the documents are signed and a willingness to revisit them when circumstances evolve.
If your estate plan no longer reflects your relationships, responsibilities, or priorities, that is reason enough to update it.
Contact us directly to book a consultation and discuss approaches tailored to your specific situation
Related Links:
https://www.allenlawaz.com/blog/why-beneficiary-designations-arent-enough-in-arizona-estate-planning