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Myth: Estate planning is only for older people

On Behalf of | Jun 3, 2017 | Uncategorized

When you picture a couple going into a lawyer’s office to discuss estate planning, what image springs to mind? Perhaps the couple is silver-haired, retired or close to retirement. That makes sense, as estate planning is extremely important for that demographic.

However, estate planning is also important for people at other points in their lives, even single people and married couples in their 20s.

Children

Many young adults, whether single or married, have children. Unfortunately, many of these parents also do not have plans for what happens to their children should they die. Estate planning helps ensure that the person you want to raise your children if something happens to you actually does get to raise them. Through this process, you can designate a guardian and backup guardian and consider financial matters such as whether you should set up a trust for your children.

Businesses

People of all ages own businesses. In fact, plenty of entrepreneurs were worth millions of dollars before they turned 20 years old. Estate planning can help ensure that business goes on in accordance with the person’s wishes after death. This type of succession planning can be important even if you are not a millionaire; you did not put all that time and effort into building your business for it to come to nothing were you to become incapacitated or die.

Marriage

Perhaps most important are the ways in which marriage can change a person’s life. Say you are under thirty, have a child with an ex-partner and are marrying someone for the first time. You want to ensure your child gets at least half of your money and assets if you were to die, especially if your spouse-to-be is in good financial shape already. Or maybe you inherited jewelry and want to ensure it goes to a certain beneficiary one day instead of to your spouse.

There can be many wrinkles involved with estate planning, no matter your age. Developing a plan when you are still young is a great way to get a head start on solving these issues.

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