The Holidays Could Provide the Chance to Discuss Your Estate Plans
It is hard to believe that the winter holiday season is here again already. By this time next week, you may be getting ready to sit down for Thanksgiving dinner with your family, loved ones, and friends. A few weeks later, many families will get together to celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, the upcoming New Year. If your family members live in various parts of the country, the winter holidays could be the only time during the year that your entire family is able to be together. Therefore, I might also be the only chance you have to talk about important subjects such as estate planning.
Prepare for the Conversation
It can certainly be difficult to start a discussion about your estate plans. In fact, even just thinking about estate planning can be uncomfortable because doing so requires confronting your eventual death. The conversation, however, is too important to skip completely. There is no need for your estate plan discussion to take many hours, nor does it need to prevent your family from enjoying the holidays. You can control the situation and keep the tone light and positive, but you will need to do a few things in advance, such as:
- Talk to certain people before everyone else is involved. It not the best idea to surprise your children or family members in front of everybody during the holidays by asking them to take on estate-related responsibilities. If you want your daughter to be your executor, for example, speak to her about it in private beforehand. When everyone is together, you can let them know that your daughter has agreed to take on the role.
- Make a brief outline. If you do not have any set direction, your estate planning discussion could go on for a very long timeāto the point where it takes over the whole holiday experience. To prevent this, make a short list of the key things that you want to talk about. Then, stick to the list! Other related topics will almost certainly be brought up, but do your best to limit tangents.
- Cover the big things. The holiday discussion is probably not the place to spend time on the minor details. It really does not matter who is going to keep your bedroom television. What does matter is where your important documents are kept and how your plan accounts for the possibility of mental or physical incapacitation.
- Let your family speak, not decide. Feedback from your family regarding your estate plan can certainly be helpful, but in the end, the decisions are yours to make. Some of your plans might not be open to debate, and that is fine, but tell your loved ones that. On other subjects, you might invite thoughts and ideas that could contribute to your ultimate decision.
Contact a Wheaton Estate Planning Attorney
If you are in the process of creating an estate plan, or if you would like to get started on one, contact an experienced DuPage County estate planning lawyer. Call 630-665-2500 to schedule an initial consultation at Stock, Carlson & Asso. LLC today.
Sources:
https://www.investopedia.com/retirement/thanksgiving-good-time-talk-turkey-about-estate-planning/
https://www.fa-mag.com/news/discussing-the-issue-of-aging-parents-41779.html