We all need a fresh start. The arrival of spring means longer days, the return of baseball season, the return of birds, and green grass and blossoming flowers. This may be the best time of year to engage in the process of estate planning or to tidy up an existing plan.
Here’s why:
1. Life Changes.
Your estate plan, like your home, periodically needs a thorough tidying. Life circumstances are constantly changing, and an estate plan that perfectly met your needs a few of years ago may now be cluttered with outdated provisions or documents. With spring fast approaching, now is the time to dust off your estate plan to ensure that it will still achieve your goals, as well as to avoid unintended consequences that may arise due to children attaining adulthood, divorces, deaths, births, or other changes that have occurred since the last time your plan was reviewed.
2. The Energy of Spring Can be Harnessed to Carry One’s Efforts Forward.
Springtime is a great time for applying effort to something that we may otherwise not have the energy for, and estate planning seems to be one of those things people put off. Especially because when summer arrives, all bets are off. All the good ideas we may have for ourselves tend to get forgotten during the glory months of summer. Estate planning requires work and even simple planning is more work than it might seem at first. After all, you don’t want it to be too simple; you want it to be as simple as it can be while accomplishing your goals and helping your family. We can advise you as to exactly how complicated your estate plan needs to be to accomplish your goals. In addition, because it feels so monumental, getting an estate plan done feels like taking a weight off one’s shoulders at any time of year. But getting that weight off earlier in the year rather than later leaves you with more energy later in the year for other things. And people do say that getting a plan done releases a lot of stuck, pent-up energy that they can put toward other “adulting” tasks. So, treat it like spring cleaning for your legal life!
3. We Get It, Estate Planning Is Scary!
Talking about death is not easy. Thinking about not being there for our kids, missing milestones, losing ourselves. It is a hard conversation, but it is one that we must have, and the sooner, the better. We should think about what our loved ones need and what will make them happy. This is why this spring, the season of love, is the time to start the family estate plan. And, when one is motivated by love, think of an estate plan as a love letter. It ensures that our loved ones will not have to worry about anything after we die because we already planned for it. They will not have to figure out the service, burial or cremation arraignments, who gets what, etc. And, from an emotional standpoint, this is an incredible act of love because, otherwise, our loved ones would have to figure this all out during an incredibly hard time in their lives. Plus, asset divisions by a judge can permanently fracture families in probate litigation.
4. Don’t Wait. Do it Before it’s Too Late!
The key takeaway is to start the estate planning journey now. However, one needs to get their motivation, whether it is love of family, need to build a legacy, something else or some combination, estate planning is important and should be started as soon as possible. We are here and ready to support you when you’re ready.
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