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Life event
A Career Change: what to review in your estate plan
A new job or self-employment changes your benefits, retirement accounts, and risks, and it often creates new accounts that start with an empty beneficiary form.
Worth reviewing
- Beneficiary forms on the new employer’s retirement plan and life insurance
- What happens to old retirement accounts you leave behind
- If you become self-employed: a business entity, insurance, and a plan for continuity
- Whether your life and disability coverage still match your family’s needs
Documents to look at first
For this life event, these are the documents most often affected. Your own list depends on your family and what you have already signed.
- Beneficiary designations (retirement, insurance, bank accounts)
- Life and disability insurance
- Financial power of attorney
- Business agreements and succession plan
When to act
When you start the new role.
Related life events
Not sure where your plan stands?
A consultation is the place to talk through what has changed and what to update first. Nothing is finalized until we have talked.
This page is general information about Illinois law and is not legal advice. It does not create an attorney-client relationship. See the Disclaimer. Last updated October 2026.