In “normal” times it is often what I call an “event” that motivates estate planning action. Sometimes a person may see what happens to a friend or family member who didn’t prepare. Sometimes it’s a death, diagnosis of an illness or moving to a new state.
The coronavirus has eliminated all the typical reasons why people procrastinate in doing their estate plan. Suddenly cost and time are no longer an issue. Fear of the process is outweighed by the pain that will be caused if you don’t take care of this. We’re suddenly clear on our goals. Working with the attorney is something that will give peace of mind and is no longer something to put off. With all these anxieties and unknowns weighing on our minds, it might feel like there’s suddenly a pressing need to get our affairs in order ― just in case.
This pandemic has put everyone squarely facing the reality that they could be gone in a couple of weeks if they contract this invisible virus.
So it is no surprise that the demand for wills and other estate planning documents has surged across the U.S. People who typically become frozen or paralyzed with big decisions and do nothing, are now saying ‘Oh, OK, it’s time. We’ve got to make these decisions.’”
An estate plan absolutely eases our fears. I’ve seen this dozens and dozens of times. After all, we feel better knowing that the burden of making crucial health and financial decisions will never fall on unprepared family members.
This is why we need to do estate planning. To make sure our assets will go to the people we want to have them with the least amount of delay, hassle and expense; to keep our families from having to deal with the courts if we become incapacitated and when we die; to let our families know that we care about them, that we want to provide for them and protect them. Yes, we do it for those we love. But we get a huge benefit, too—and that’s peace of mind.
