Many people, especially younger adults, think that they don’t need a will, trust, power of attorney, or any other kind of estate planning document. They believe that those things are only for the elderly or people in bad health and are simply not necessary for healthy folks in their 30’s, 40’s or 50’s.
They’re wrong. Estate planning is not just about having a will or trust. Instead, having a quality estate plan in place is like having good insurance: you hope you never need it, but it’s there in case the unexpected happens.
For example, let’s say you are married to your spouse and you have a child together. What would you want to happen to your assets if:
• You die before your spouse?
• Your spouse dies before you and your child is a minor?
• Your spouse dies before you and your child is an adult?
• You and your spouse die at the same time?
• You become incapacitated while your spouse is still alive?
• Your spouse becomes incapacitated while you’re still alive?
• You become incapacitated after your spouse dies? What if your child is a minor then?
This is just a small list of the issues and situations you need to consider. The number of questions to consider grows dramatically with the more children you have, the more assets you accumulate and the number of times you marry and re-marry.• After both you and your spouse die, your child was a minor and not motivated to finish school or begin a career?
• After both you and your spouse die, your child was an adult and was in a bad marriage or was sued?
• You and your spouse have been married before and have children from previous marriages, and one of you dies?
• You have a child with special needs who receives government benefits like Medicaid or Social Security?