ReviewIntermediate

Existing Estate Plan Review and Update Checklist

When a returning client brings in a will or trust signed years ago, or after a life event such as a divorce, death, birth or move, and you need to see quickly what no longer fits.

Estate Planning

Estate plans go stale quietly. A will signed a decade ago may still name a former spouse as executor, leave a specific gift of a house that was sold, or say nothing about a grandchild born last year. Clients rarely know which changes matter, so a review meeting often starts with the attorney reading the whole document against a list of life events and hunting for every place the two no longer line up.

This prompt does that comparison systematically. You paste the existing will or trust with its amendments, plus a short list of what has changed, and Claude produces a fiduciary table, quotes each provision that a changed fact affects, identifies gaps the plan never addressed, and turns everything into an update checklist ranked by urgency. Each finding is tied to the exact language and the specific event, so you can check the work in minutes.

The review is limited to the documents and facts you provide. It cannot tell you how your state treats a gift to a divorced spouse or a beneficiary who died first, and the prompt deliberately frames those points as research questions. You decide what the plan means and what to change. Treat the output as a draft for attorney review, and verify any legal rule or citation before advising the client.

The Prompt

I represent [CLIENT NAME], who signed the estate planning documents below on or around [DATE SIGNED]. I am reviewing whether the plan still fits the client's current circumstances.

<document name="existing_plan">
[PASTE THE WILL, TRUST, ANY AMENDMENTS OR CODICILS, AND ANY POWERS OF ATTORNEY OR HEALTH CARE DIRECTIVES]
</document>

<document name="current_facts">
[PASTE CURRENT FACTS: marriages, divorces, deaths, births, adoptions, moves to another state, changes in health, major asset changes, business interests, changed relationships with named fiduciaries or beneficiaries]
</document>

Current state of residence: [JURISDICTION]
State where the documents were signed: [STATE]

Compare the existing plan against the current facts and produce:

1. Fiduciary review table: Role (executor, trustee, successor trustee, guardian, agent) | Person named | Quote of the naming provision | Issue (deceased, divorced, incapacitated, estranged, moved away, now a minor or ward) | Severity.
2. Outdated or problem provisions: for each, quote the exact language, explain which current fact makes it a problem, and say what decision the client needs to make. Include beneficiaries who have died or divorced out, specific gifts of assets no longer owned, class gifts affected by births or adoptions, and references to people or entities that no longer exist.
3. Gaps: important situations the plan does not address given the current facts (for example a new minor child, a beneficiary with special needs, newly acquired out-of-state property, or no incapacity planning).
4. Possible effects of law or residence changes: list as questions to research under [JURISDICTION], not as conclusions.
5. Update checklist ranked by urgency (Urgent, Soon, Next review), each item tied to a numbered finding above.

Quote the documents for every finding. If a provision is ambiguous or a fact is missing, say so. This is a draft for attorney review, and any legal conclusion must be verified.

Example Output

A fiduciary review table, quoted outdated provisions tied to specific changed facts, a list of gaps, open research questions and an urgency-ranked update checklist.

Illustrative example — names, figures, and facts are fictional.

EXISTING PLAN REVIEW (DRAFT FOR ATTORNEY REVIEW)
Client: Harriet Okonkwo-Bell | Documents: Will and Revocable Trust dated 2013, First Amendment 2016

1. FIDUCIARY REVIEW
Role | Named | Provision | Issue | Severity
Successor trustee | Gerald Bell | Trust 4.1: "my husband, GERALD BELL, shall serve as successor Trustee" | Divorced 2020 (facts) | High
Alternate trustee | Ruth Abernathy | Trust 4.2: "If Gerald is unable or unwilling to serve, my sister, RUTH ABERNATHY" | Deceased 2022 (facts) | High
Guardian of minors | n/a | none | Client's children now adults; no issue | Low

2. OUTDATED PROVISIONS
2.1 Specific gift of real estate
Quote: "I give my residence at 14 Harbor Lane to my daughter, MAYA."
Changed fact: Harbor Lane sold in 2019; client now owns a condo.
Decision for client: should Maya receive the condo, another asset or nothing specific?

2.2 Spousal share
Quote: "one-half of the residuary trust estate shall be held for my husband."
Changed fact: divorced 2020.
Research question: effect of divorce on this provision under [JURISDICTION] law [VERIFY].

3. GAPS
- Grandson Felix born 2023; residuary gift reads "to my children" with no quoted substitute-gift language. Whether a grandchild could take if his parent predeceases depends on the document and [JURISDICTION] anti-lapse rules [VERIFY]. Confirm intent.
- Client moved from [STATE] to [JURISDICTION] in 2021; documents reference the prior state's statutes.

4. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
- Does [JURISDICTION] recognize the 2013 will's execution formalities?
- Do the referenced statutes have current equivalents?

5. UPDATE CHECKLIST
Urgent: replace successor and alternate trustees (1); resolve spousal share after confirming effect of divorce (2.2)
Soon: resolve specific gift of residence (2.1); confirm grandchildren intent (3)
Next review: conform statutory references after move (3, 4)

Tips

•Include every amendment, codicil and restatement in date order. Claude can only flag a superseded provision if it sees what superseded it.
•List changed facts as short dated bullets ("2021: divorced from Dana") so each finding can point to a specific event.
•Keep the law-change section framed as questions. Effects of divorce, a move between states or a beneficiary's death on a will vary by jurisdiction and need your research.
•Ask a follow-up prompt to turn the checklist into a plain-language client letter once you have reviewed it.
•The output is a draft for attorney review; verify every citation or statute it mentions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Claude tell me whether a divorce revoked gifts to a former spouse?

Not reliably on its own. Whether a divorce revokes provisions for a former spouse, and whether that also covers trusts or beneficiary designations, depends on the governing state's law and sometimes on federal rules for retirement plans. The prompt flags those provisions and frames the effect as a research question so you can confirm the rule from primary sources.

What should I include in the current facts section?

Short, dated entries for every marriage, divorce, death, birth, adoption, change of residence, significant health change, major asset purchase or sale, and any falling-out with a named fiduciary or beneficiary. The more specific the facts, the more precisely Claude can tie each outdated provision to the event that made it a problem.

Will this catch problems with beneficiary designations too?

Only if you paste the designations, and even then this prompt focuses on the dispositive documents. Life insurance and retirement accounts pass by designation, not by the will, so use the trust funding and beneficiary designation checklist prompt alongside this one to cross-check those assets against the updated plan.

Is the urgency ranking reliable enough to share with the client?

Use it as a starting point. The ranking reflects what the documents and facts show, such as a deceased sole trustee, but you know things the prompt does not, including the client's health and family dynamics. Review and adjust it, then use a client-facing prompt to explain the changes in plain language.

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