Have you put off sitting down with a Natick estate planning lawyer because you don’t want to think about it or don’t think you need one?
You’re not alone- plenty of people in Massachusetts and around the country don’t have this basic estate planning tool in place.
Merrill Lynch and Age Wave recently published the findings from their Leaving a Legacy study. The study looked at the importance of leaving behind a legacy for family members and loved ones after death. The primary take away from this research study shows that many people have not changed their attitudes about the importance of estate planning.
Nearly half of Americans over age 55 have not created a will. Another important outcome from that study was that only 18% of people in that same age range had engaged in all of the legacy planning essentials such as a health care directive, a durable power of attorney and a will.
Most people think primarily about a will when putting together an estate plan in Natick, and while this is the foundation, a durable power of attorney and a health care directive could also be necessary in the event that you become unable to make decisions for yourself because you’ve gotten sick. Most people participating in that same study reported that they believed they should have their financial affairs in order by at least age 50.
The truth is that everyone of varying ages could benefit from the estate planning process and overlooking it could put you and your loved ones in a difficult situation that you never expected. In the midst of dealing with a crisis, such as suddenly being diagnosed with a critical illness or watching a loved one decline due to Alzheimer’s, it can be overwhelming to pull together all of the estate planning materials at that point in time.
Working ahead and considering the possibility and then using estate planning to mitigate that risk could be a big benefit to you. Your Natick estate planning attorney could answer more questions for you about how a will works in your overall plan.
