Estate planning often involves talking about things people generally wish to avoid. Thoughts of death or incapacitation do not generally make for normally pleasant conversations. Estate planning, however, is a topic all families need to confront. While there are serious topics that will be involved with these discussions, they are incredibly important. Furthermore, putting an estate plan in place can bring an unexpected amount of peace of mind to you and your loved ones. Knowing that you have legal tools in place that will help yourself and those you care about most in some of the most difficult times life will throw your way can bring a great deal of comfort.
While putting an estate plan in place can be important for people of every age, it can be especially important for your aging parents to have one. If your parents are edging into advanced years and still do not have an estate plan in place, it is critical to talk to them about doing so. This, however, can be a delicate conversation that should be approached with care.
How to Start the Estate Planning Conversation with Your Parents
To have a conversation with your parents about estate planning, timing can be important. It may not be best, for instance, to bring it up at a big family gathering. It should probably be brought up in a private setting when all of you have a good amount of time to have an in-depth discussion about some difficult topics.
Approaching the estate planning conversation with your parents should not become at an angle as though they could pass away at any moment. Estate planning is, again, important for anyone at any age and in any kind of health status. This is because none of us are immune from the unpredictable. Life has a way of throwing the unexpected at us. It might be a good idea to bring up the idea of estate planning in the context of why you yourself thought estate planning was important.
Highlight the fact that estate planning can be important not just for your parents to help ensure their affairs are properly managed in the event of death or incapacitation, but it can be important to their loved ones. Estate planning involves putting instructions in place so that your loved ones know your wishes. You can detail how you want your property distributed upon your death. You can outline burial and funeral wishes in as much detail as you wish.
There are also things like health care surrogates and living wills that can be important parts of estate planning. With a health care surrogate, you are empowered to select a trusted individual to make health care decisions on your behalf should you be unconscious or incapacitated and unable to express your preferences for yourself. You can also put a living will in place in the event you are in a terminal condition and incapacitated. Your living will details the type of care you wish to receive or not receive under these circumstances. Think of the stress and uncertainty you would save your loved ones with these legal tools in place. There would not be a need to guess what you would have wanted. This is a gift you can give your loved ones.
Estate Planning Attorney
Estate planning is important for everyone regardless of age or wealth (or lack thereof). Talk to our trusted estate planning team at Verras Law about what estate planning can accomplish and how we can be it a strong estate plan in place for you and your loved ones. Contact Verras Law today.