THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ESTATE PLANNING

We often think of Estate Planning in more of the business sense, but what about the psychology of estate planning?  When speaking with several of my estate planning clients, they each expressed the same thing when it came to the topic of why they were just now getting to creating their Will and Trust and simply put, it was hard for them to deal with the uncomfortable topic of end-of-life decisions. My response is always the same, “We all are going to face the end of our life, and avoiding creating documents for the protection of our assets and loves ones is not going to alter that fact.” The benefits outweigh the uncomfortable topic, by far.  Here are just a few of the benefits of making sure your estate planning is in order prior to your passing:

 

  1. Estate Planning establishes a strong sense of stability in time of loss: You save your loved ones from the confusion about what to do and what you would want them to do, leaving them time to go through the grieving process rather than feeling pressured to make decisions that they are not clear about.

Estate Planning keeps your records private.

  1. Your Estate may not be required to go through probate: With  estate planning in place, the content and distribution of your estate is kept private.  On the flip side of it, without establishing an estate plan, access to your private matters becomes public, which invites controversy and often times family squabbling.

Personal Property and Estate Planning

  1. Personal Property and Estate Planning: Estate planning is much more than just wealth distribution, changing title of your assets in the name of your Trust and taxes.  Your estate plan can include personal property such as your Great Grandmother’s Wedding Ring you may choose to gift to someone specific in the family, or a legacy letter and/or video.

 

  1. Making it as easy as possible on your loved ones: The most important aspect of estate planning to me is making the process as easy as possible on those you love.  What couldn’t be better than to have your written words of your wishes and how you want things handled, written down in black and white.

 

  1. Setting forth your specific assets, contact information and etc: One of the key things for people to understand is that although you may know you have a life insurance policy, a 401(k) Retirement and its named beneficiary, unless it’s written down, to include the contact information for these assets, it is only known to you and it becomes a puzzle to those you have left behind to be required to look through old paperwork, ask family and friends, when it can be simply stated in your estate planning documents.

I have always looked at estate planning as a “Gift to Your Loved Ones” because it truly is.  Call us today, (951) 272-5855, if you would like to establish your estate planning, give the ultimate gift to your loved ones, you will see that it really is a simple process.  All of our clients have walked away after notarizing their estate planning documents, with a sense of relief and gratitude that their estate is in order.