The majority of people in the United States believe that they should have an estate plan. They understand that it is important and that it can help their family. If you asked them if it was a necessary step to take, they would tell you that it is.
However, the majority also do not have an estate plan. There are various reasons for this, but one of the most common excuses is simply that they’re putting it off. They probably won’t phrase it this way, and they’ll say something about how they’re going to do it later, but it all boils down to the same thing. They are procrastinating their estate plan. Here are four reasons why you don’t want to do that.
You never know
First and foremost, you never know how long you have to make that plan. This isn’t something that should be frightening to you, but it should open your eyes to the fact that unexpected events happen. A lot of people have good intentions about making an estate plan later but then pass away before they do it.
It doesn’t hurt to have it early
Additionally, there’s no downside to creating your estate plan early. You might not even use it for the next 30 years. But that’s not a good reason to put it off. Instead, just create the plan now and then update it whenever you need to.
It may be more difficult later
Putting it off also risks creating a situation where it’s harder to make a plan that’s going to stand up in court. For instance, your heirs may be able to challenge your plan if you were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or something of this nature before you wrote it. Doing it prior to the diagnosis makes it much less likely that they will challenge it and far more likely that it will stand.
Not having a plan hurts your family
Finally, if you do pass away with no estate plan because you put it off for too long, that can cause a lot of issues for your family. When you view estate planning as a way to put those that you love first, it’s clear why you need to look into the legal options to get that plan in place.
