It is so easy these days from the comfort of our homes to be able to learn all about our ancestry and to be able to take DNA tests to learn about our family history. Technology sure has come a long way and is providing us with information from the comfort of our own homes that we never had seen before. It is essential, now more than ever, to make sure that our estate planning documents are up to date and also are done appropriately and properly.

Nowadays, it is easier to track down a parent that you never knew existed and just learned about, whether were adopted or simply just lost contact or were estranged from that person. Or there could be a situation where someone does not know that they had a child and years later it may come to light that they are a father because of the technology and ability to learn this information from the comfort of your home. This will certainly change outcomes in the future of who is entitled to certain assets and who may have standing and different circumstances.

It will be interesting to see how this fleshes out over the next 20 or 30 years, but one thing is for certain – it is more important now than ever to make sure that your estate planning is up to date. It will be important to have them done correctly and make sure that all of your i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed to ensure that someone can’t come in later who is unknown or unexpected and have rights. And especially important to have your documents prepared and not rely on the intestate laws of Pennsylvania to determine your beneficiaries.

Technology certainly has and will change estate planning in the future, and we look forward to seeing how it does, but in the meantime, we will certainly plan accordingly and make sure that our documents are up to date and properly drafted for any unexpected mishaps.

If you would like to learn more about this, please give us a call at 717-845-5390.