Why the End of the Year Is the Best Time to Review Your Estate Plan in Connecticut

Most people create an estate plan and then set it aside. Life moves on, families change, laws shift, and the document sitting in a drawer or a safe continues to reflect a version of your life that may no longer exist.

The end of the year is the one moment when most people pause long enough to take stock of where things stand. It is also, practically speaking, one of the best times to make sure your estate plan still does what you intend it to do.

Life Changed in 2026. Did Your Plan Keep Up?

Estate plans are not static documents. They are legal instruments tied to specific people, specific assets, and specific intentions. When any of those change, the plan can break down in ways that are not obvious until it is too late.

A child or grandchild born this year is not automatically protected by a plan that predates them. A marriage or divorce changes the legal and financial landscape in ways that ripple through your will, your trusts, and every beneficiary designation attached to your accounts. The death of someone named in your plan, whether as a beneficiary, executor, or trustee, can leave gaps that create real problems for the people you are trying to protect.

If any of these apply to your family in 2026, your plan needs a review before the year ends.

Beneficiary Designations Are Often the Weakest Link

One of the most common and costly estate planning mistakes is outdated beneficiary designations. Life insurance policies, retirement accounts, IRAs, and bank accounts all pass outside of your will through beneficiary designations. Whatever those designations say overrides what your will says, regardless of your intentions.

That means an ex-spouse named on a life insurance policy ten years ago may still collect the proceeds if the designation was never updated. A child from a prior relationship may inherit a retirement account that you intended to leave to your current spouse. These are not hypothetical problems. They happen regularly, and Connecticut courts have limited ability to undo them once the asset has transferred.

Year-end is the right time to pull every beneficiary designation you have on file and make sure the names still match your intentions.

Tax Law Uncertainty Heading Into 2027

The federal estate tax landscape is in flux. Provisions from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that significantly raised the federal estate tax exemption are scheduled to sunset at the end of 2025, though ongoing legislative activity continues to create uncertainty about what the exemption will look like going forward.

Connecticut has its own estate tax with its own thresholds and rules. A plan that was structured around one set of exemptions may need to be adjusted if those numbers change. If your estate plan includes tax planning strategies, now is the time to review whether they still hold up under current and anticipated law.

Connecticut Medicaid Changes Take Effect in 2027

For families with aging parents or anyone doing long-term care planning, the urgency is even greater. Federal changes to Connecticut's Medicaid program take effect January 1, 2027, including new work requirements and more frequent eligibility redeterminations that will affect thousands of Connecticut residents.

Medicaid's five-year look-back period means that any asset protection planning done today does not help you tomorrow. It helps you five years from now. The families who act before the end of 2026 are the ones who will be ahead of the curve when those changes hit.

If You Have Not Reviewed Your Plan in Three or More Years

Even without a specific life event, a plan that has not been reviewed in three or more years is worth revisiting. Connecticut law changes. Federal tax law changes. Your financial picture changes. What made sense in 2022 may not be the right structure for 2027.

An annual review does not always result in changes. But it ensures that if changes are needed, you catch them before a crisis forces the issue.

The Bottom Line

The end of the year is not just a time for reflection. It is a practical deadline. Attorneys get busy in December. Courts slow down. Life gets complicated. A review scheduled now can be completed before the holidays, leaving you and your family better protected heading into the new year.

The Law Offices of Charles L. Kurmay has 100+ years of combined experience helping Connecticut families build and maintain estate plans that work. Contact us before the end of the year to make sure yours still does.