New York Estate Planning & Elder Law Blog
While many members of the Baby Boomer generation view Millennials as self-involved, the Millennial age group has been maturing. Some Millennials are even currently in their early 40’s. This means that many Millennials are reaching a point where they are having to engage in difficult conversations with their parents about estate planning. While many people falsely believe that estate planning is only the process of designating who should receive what assets as well as how debts are settled after a person passes away, estate planning also involves deciding who should make decisions about incapacity as well as other critical end of life issues. To better help you prepare to have a conversation with your parent, this article reviews some critical estate planning discussion tips that you should remember.
# 1 – What Documents You Need to Prepare
Wills are critical for resolving issues with a loved one’s estate after they pass away. There are also other types of critical paperwork that your parents should prepare while they are still alive. These documents include things like health care proxies, living wills, and powers of attorney. Creating these documents is critical, particularly if your loved one has a history of either Alzheimer’s or dementia. You should also know where your parent stores all of this paperwork. You should additionally ask your parent to create a list of passwords for accounts.
# 2 – Create a Strategy to Bring Up The Conversation
It’s not easy discussing estate planning or end of life issues with a loved one. Having these conversations, however, is the best possible way to reduce anxiety and uncertainty about the situation. Remember, if your parent experiences a health crisis or become mentally incapacitated, it will be too late to create some important estate planning documents. One helpful strategy is to simply ask your parents questions about the nature of their estate plan. In this situation, you often know very quickly whether your loved one has an estate plan or not. Another option, particularly if you have a family history of illnesses that result in mental incapacity, is to say that you’re concerned about the family history and want to make sure your loved one has an estate plan.
# 3 – Help But Don’t Exert Too Much Control
Estate planning paperwork is critical for both you and your parents to achieve your estate plan. If your parents challenge you and refuse to discuss the terms of your estate plan, however, there is not much you can do. If your parents refuse to discuss the terms of their estate plan with you, you do not have many options. You should not bully your parents into creating their estate plan. Instead, you should remain merely encouraging and remindful about the risks of not creating an estate plan.
Speak with an Experienced Estate Planning Attorney
Adequate estate planning is not easy. If you or a loved one needs help navigating this process, you sho