How to Break Through Estate Plan Procrastination

When you’re young and single, you might assume you don’t need an estate plan. With so much of your life ahead of you, it’s simple to put it off. But all it takes is an illness where you want your wishes shared with your healthcare team or an accident that leaves you unable to handle your financial affairs. Estate planning is just as much about protecting your wishes in your life, too. This is why it’s valuable to overcome procrastination for estate planning issues.

Overcoming obstacles is critical for finally addressing your estate planning needs. Many clients who eventually sit down with an estate planning lawyer have put this off for months, years or even decades. It is all too often hitting a certain age such as 65, retiring, getting divorced, or looking ahead to long term care needs that prompts people to eventually complete their estate planning documents.

Remember that when you hire an estate planning attorney and choose to work with them one on one, this is not only about planning for your death. It is certainly true that some of the questions and considerations relate to what happens to your property after you pass away, or important end of life decisions regarding your health, but it is just as important to consider estate planning as looking at issues during your life.

This means talking about your loved ones, thinking about what’s important to you, defining charitable and philanthropic goals and establishing the best way to approach someone taking over your finances or health care decisions if you become unable to do so. A qualified and knowledgeable estate planning attorney is a valuable asset to you during this time. They can make estate planning much more approachable and easier to understand.