Why is it so easy to put off estate planning?

People have may reasons for putting off creating an estate plan. Unfortunately, many people postpone it for so long that they die without any estate plan in place. They don’t intend to, but they leave their family members with the stressful, time-consuming, and often expensive task of dealing with their assets and debts in probate court.

Some people avoid estate planning because they just don’t want to think about death, much less talk about it.  Others believe that death is many years or even decades away. They’re healthy, so they see no reason to think about estate planning right now. Unfortunately, car crashes and other suddenly fatal events happen to people of all ages every day.  But as we all know, ultimately there is no avoiding it. Whether we talk about it or plan for it, we cannot evade death.  This premise led to the oft quoted statement of Benjamin Franklin in a letter he wrote on November 13th, 1789, in which he said “but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”

So maybe you do acknowledge that you’re not going to live forever and that you can never be sure when your time will be up. However, you don’t believe you have enough assets to warrant creating an estate plan.  Most people don’t consider what they have to be an “estate.” When you start totaling the value of everything you have, however, such as your home, bank accounts, retirement and investment accounts, personal property, jewelry, and other valuables, the value of your “estate” is likely more than you realize. Or maybe you aren’t sure exactly what you want your estate plan to say, so you justify putting it off until you finalize every detail.

But even if you can put aside the notion that you might actually die someday, what will happen if you become physically and/or mentally incapacitated?  What if you become seriously ill or injured and are unable to handle financial matters or make your wishes known regarding your health care or end-of-life decisions? Crucial documents like powers of attorney and medical directives ensure that others are able to make critical and necessary decisions in the event you are unable to do so yourself.

Yes, estate planning takes some time and requires contemplating a future when you won’t be around. It also requires spending a little money that you would probably rather spent on something else. However, as good estate plan allows you to control what happens to your assets, determine the legacy you want to leave, and help make things a little easier for your loved ones during what will be a difficult time for them.