People frequently wait until they are facing serious medical issues later in life or preparing for retirement to think earnestly about estate planning. While they understand it might be beneficial to establish an estate plan before those challenges arise, they may tell themselves they can wait to draft a will and other documents.
Although procrastination about estate planning is relatively common, it is a dangerous gamble. Adults never know when they might experience an emergency that leaves them vulnerable. Additionally, not everyone lives to their average life expectancy.
What is the appropriate age to begin the estate planning process?
Even 18-year-olds may need documents
People do not need to have dependents or valuable property to require the protection of an estate plan. Young adults who have recently turned 18 are vulnerable because their parents no longer have the legal authority to manage their affairs and medical care.
Those starting their careers or moving away for college may benefit from creating advance medical directives and powers of attorney. They can name someone, such as their parents, to act as their agent in an emergency. They can also provide instructions about their personal medical preferences.
Estate planning is also beneficial for people in their twenties and thirties who have achieved a degree of professional success or inherited property. Anyone with valuable assets such as real estate, vehicles or well-funded financial accounts may need to create an estate plan to control what happens to their property in the event of their death.
Interstate succession laws only protect immediate family members. For unmarried adults establishing their careers before they start families, the lack of children and a spouse might mean that their parents inherit everything when they die. The people closest to them, such as a long-term romantic partner they have not married, might end up left with nothing under intestate succession laws.
Anyone with valuable property at any age may benefit from drafting a will or establishing a trust to ensure their chosen beneficiaries inherit their most valuable property. Those with children or other dependents may want to draft wills to name a guardian and ensure the financial stability of the people who depend on them.
Creating an estate plan early and then adjusting the paperwork as life circumstances change is typically the best approach to the estate planning process. A simple estate plan provides peace of mind, protection in an emergency and the foundation for a meaningful legacy after death.