One of the most common things that people say when asked why they don’t have an estate plan is just that they’ll do it later. They’re putting it off for some particular reason, just procrastinating or they just think it isn’t important to do it yet. They may believe that they’re too young, or they’ve just decided to make an estate plan after they retire.
This is interesting because it shows two things. The first is that people do believe estate planning is important and they know that they are going to need a will and other such documents. But it also shows that the reason people don’t do their estate planning, despite this importance, might be because of a misconception of when estate planning should be done. It is actually a risk to put your estate planning off for another day.
You never know when you’ll need it
The risk, of course, is simply that you never know when you’re going to need that estate plan or when your family will need to use it. Every year, more than 35,000 people pass away unexpectedly in car accidents. More than 805,000 people have heart attacks, with three-quarters of them having a heart attack for the first time.
Additionally, your estate playing can be used to plan for more than just what happens to your assets. Maybe you’re worried about becoming incapacitated and needing someone else to make your medical decisions. That can be done with a medical power of attorney. Maybe you have children of your own and you want to know who will take care of them. You can do that by picking a guardian.
In short, there are a lot of things that estate planning can do and it is almost always better to get it done in advance, so carefully consider the steps you need to take.
