• Power of attorney for legal and financial matters (Power of Attorney)
• Power of attorney for medical decisions (Health Care Proxy) -Living Will
• Testament (Last Will and Testament)
• Trust
• Below is a simple four-point checklist you can follow to make sure your documents are still up to date:

Where are your legal documents stored?

• It's important to sign legal documents, but they won't be particularly helpful if no one knows they exist or where they are kept.
• This applies especially to a will, because after death, the probate court will require the executor to produce the original if it is necessary to initiate legal proceedings.
• The Power of Attorney for legal and financial matters should be available to representatives designated in the power of attorney, if they ever need to manage finances or make any decisions on behalf of a given person, without having the original of such a document, they will not be able to represent the person granting them the power of attorney.
• Medical representatives will need to have a copy of the document to show to doctors at the hospital as evidence that they can make important medical decisions on the person's behalf.
• While many people may consciously decide not to share documents with their appointed representatives, it is important that they are informed that they have this role and who they should contact to obtain copies/originals of these documents if necessary.

Make sure that all the people you have entrusted with power of attorney are still alive, you still trust them and do you still want them to represent you if necessary?

• All of these authorized people to whom you entrust such important decisions will have to play some role, either at the end of your life or after your death. It is important to make sure that they are not only alive, but also willing to take on this responsibility. While some people may think it is an honor or do it out of love or respect, others may view it as a burden rather than a distinction. If your nominee is deceased or unwilling to take on this responsibility, then it may be worth speaking to your attorney and amending your documents accordingly.

Have your priorities regarding beneficiaries changed?

• When people write a will, they often wonder who will inherit their estate after their death. However, people's situation is changing. Marriages often end in divorce, family disputes, quarrels, the birth of children, grandchildren, new marriages... and many other situations that we cannot predict today and which create the need to change legal documents so as to update their content and not to hurt anyone thoughtlessly.
• Take a look at your documents and make sure you include everyone you want to leave your estate to. Sometimes this does not require a physical change to your will. For example, a will may refer to leaving everything to your children, who will survive you in equal shares. If your solicitor has drafted your will correctly, you may not need to update it as the will applies to a group of surviving children, whether they were alive or born after the date you drafted it.

What do you have? Make an inventory of your assets - add beneficiaries.

• We do not realize that at the time of death we leave behind assets that may not be available to our loved ones after death without court intervention, unless WHILE WE ARE LIFE we fill out a form to add them as beneficiaries or add our loved ones as co-owners of accounts.
• Sometimes clients are sure who is designated as the beneficiary of a retirement account opened 30 years ago, but often the authorized person is no longer alive, or the owner's current will is not consistent with that 30 years ago, so corrections must be made, beneficiaries changed, updated legal documents according to current needs…
• Is the property adequately protected against creditors? What will happen to your assets if you need to stay in a nursing home, which costs approximately $200,000 per year?

As discussed above, this is a simple, routine check that can be performed every two or three years to ensure that the plan remains in line with our wishes and is still up to date. If you feel your documents need to be updated, consider consulting with an attorney to discuss the details.