Why Estate Planning.
For most of us, we begin our lives with very little in the way of personal assets. The journey of life often begins with the vision of finding the right career, buying our first home, getting married, and having children as we enjoy the experiences that are shared by many. We walk through life with little awareness of the possible life shocks that happen and often dismiss the notion as this could ever happen to us.
When confronted by the media, we witness devastating fires, automobile accidents, debilitating diseases, and horrific crimes. Often, these events cause the loss of life or permanent disability. We all hope and believe that we will be able to live an active life, complete with paying off our debt, accumulating sufficient assets, raising our children, becoming grandparents, and leaving life at a ripe old age while beloved by everyone.
While our assumption of living out our lives without any major life shocks will hold true for most, we will invest the majority of our time and energy working to save and accumulate sufficient assets for the final chapter of our lives.Typically, this is done without any real awareness of how to protect and preserve those assets for those who we care about the most.
Often we spend thousands of dollars each year paying on insurance to protect our homes, automobiles, life, and health in the event that something beyond our control occurs. But without proper planning at the end of our life, we may spend thousands of dollars on legal fees, taxes, healthcare, and estate shrinkage due to the forced sale of assets at the most inopportune time. In addition, the emotional cost to family relationships due to the lack of planning can divide families for many generations.
Because of my personal and professional perspective, what is true for me is that there are potentially two costs. First, the emotional cost of losing a loved one. And second, the emotional loss that is often compounded due to family division over the estate settlement process. The second loss can often be mitigated had there been proactive and proper planning with open communication prior to the death of a loved one.
When too late to rectify, I am greatly saddened to learn of families that historically shared some of life’s greatest experiences only to end with irreconcilable differences after the death of a loved one. Many times, the lack of planning was the cause for the great family divide.
At some point in our lives, all of us will experience the loss of loved ones, and our memories will hold those loved ones close to our hearts. With proper estate planning, open communications, and a little proactive time and energy on planning, what can be a very difficult time may be a much less complicated transition. Being proactive will go a long way to help create the space needed for the mourning process.
